Age Gap
by KrisWitherKay
Summary: While Natsu and Erza are out on a mission to capture a dark guild member, Natsu gets turned in to an 8 year old! How will they get out of this one? Natza fic, read and review.
1. Chapter 1

Age Gap

Chapter 1

"GET BACK HERE, DAMMIT!" A spiky, pink haired teen screamed as he ran through the forest.

"Natsu, she's a criminal, it's not like she's going to stop and turn herself in." A long, red haired woman commented as she ran alongside him. A sly smirk formed on her face before chirping under her breath; "They always run."

Natsu's sensitive hearing caught what she said nonetheless and his eyebrow twitched involuntarily. He knew exactly what kind of a mean streak the "Titania" Erza Scarlet had. He'd had nightmares about it in the past. Looking back at the dark cloaked woman they were chasing, he quickly realised that she was pulling away from them little by little.

"Erza, you'll have to swap armour and go left." Natsu offered. "I'll go right and we'll flank her, otherwise this'll never end."

Erza nodded and her body glowed as her current, Heart Kreuz armour seemed to shatter and then reform in a completely different structure. Natsu only managed to get a glimpse of the leopard print, Flight Armour before she dashed off in front with incredible speed. He never got tired of seeing Erza get serious in a fight, her whole demeanour changed as fast and ferociously as the wind itself.

Natsu thought that it was about time he got serious too. He veered off to the right and sent a hot spurt of magic to his feet as he called "**Karyuu no Kagitsume!**" His feet burst in to flames and his surroundings blurred as his running speed increased tenfold. His dragon scale scarf flapped violently in the wind as he bounced from tree to tree, leaving scorch marks where he stepped. He saw flashes of yellow in front of him when Erza appeared briefly in between the trees. She was already level with the escaping cloaked woman and in a few more steps so was Natsu. His eyes met with his team mate's for a moment and an understanding passed between them.

They had done this countless times before; with Natsu's unrelenting force he would force the criminal to move closer to Erza and once they were close enough she would end it with a swift strike with the hilt of her sword. That would knock them out, they would apprehend them, hand them over to the Magic Council and claim their reward from their client.

He saw Erza nod at him and he gave one mighty push and darted straight for the criminal. He moved the surge of magic to his arms and let it force its way out of his system.

"**Karyuu no Yokugeki!**" Natsu called as he flung his arms down and two giant streams of fire followed them down.

Natsu knew then that he'd made a great mistake. Through the fire disrupting his vision he could see their eyes. Two golden orbs with slits as black as night, they were snake eyes, there was no way to mistake it. They met his own charcoal eyes with a desperate ferocity and fast as lightning she brought a wooden wand out from underneath her cloak and dragged it through the air.

"**Aging Spell: Seppan!**" She chanted. Suddenly there was a white beam in the air and as Natsu came down to the criminal, the beam slammed in to his stomach with the power of a bull, sending him flying back in to a tree where he hit his head hard.

Time seemed to slow as he fell to the floor. He saw the serpentine eyes of the criminal disappear under her hood as she pulled it down and in a puff of smoke she was gone. He saw Erza run through the smoke towards him, he could tell from the shape of her lips that she was shouting his name but he couldn't hear her. She threw her arms out and dropped her sword as she caught him and he lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Age Gap

Chapter 2

The next time Natsu woke up it was to someone calling his name. A man's voice this time, he recognised it as his rival, Gray Fullbuster's voice. But it still wasn't enough to get him wake up fully. He heard a woman's voice next, lighter than Erza's mature womanly voice, a clearly troubled voice that he then recognised as Mirajane Strauss'. It was rare for her to sound so concerned, her cheery ring had completely disappeared. He felt his fingers twitch a bit as feeling flooded back through his body.

Natsu was now aware that he was being carried, with one arm underneath him and the other hand laced in his hair. The person that carried him was soft and had a pleasantly sweaty smell about them, it was lightly tinged with strawberries as well. He recognised it but he couldn't place it.

His eyes fluttered open a bit and a deep red filled his vision. _Erza._ Of course, how could he forget? Erza always smelt of strawberries and underneath her armour he knew that she was the softest girl out there. He let out a breathy chuckle in to her neck which she jumped at. She can't have known that he was awake.

"Natsu?" She asked. "You awake?"

He yawned and sat up, picking one of Erza's hairs out of his mouth. He smiled when he saw her observing him closely; he must've made her worry while he was out of it.

"Yeah, I'm up, you can put me down." He said and she did as he asked. He stretched once he was free. "What happened? Why are we back at th-"

He stopped. Something was wrong. It was way too quiet and as he looked at the other guild members, their expressions were far too uncomfortable for something to not be up. He looked around a little more and noticed something else was wrong. Why was everyone so tall? He knew that Elfman was taller than he was but this was just stupid. He spotted Wendy with a hand over her mouth in shock and walked up to her.

She was taller than him. Twelve year old, Wendy Marvell was taller than him. What the hell was going on?

"N-Natsu-san?" Wendy asked tentatively. "Is that you?"

"W-What are you talking about?" He said but his voice was shaking with uncertainty. "Of course it's me."

Natsu looked around again and now even more people had covered their mouths or had even wider eyes. Some murmurs broke out in the back of the crowd but Natsu couldn't hear them. He turned back to Erza, who was now on her knees staring in to blank space. "Hey, what's going on? This is freaking me out now."

Nobody seemed eager to answer his question but eventually Lucy came to the front and knelt in front of him. She wore a worried expression and Natsu saw her eyes flicking all over his body as she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Natsu, let me show you something." She said and took one of her Celestial Keys from the pouch on her waist. Natsu recognised Horologium's silver key when she pulled it out. "Open, Gate of the Clock, Horologium."

There was a puff of smoke and all of sudden a giant grandfather clock stood there, its moustached face looking as composed as ever.

"Is there something you need, Lucy-sama?" He asked with a wave of an arm that was attached to its case.

"Yes actually, for now I just need you to stand there." Lucy told him.

"Lucy, if you're not going to give him a decent order there's not much point to call him all the way here." Natsu scolded but Lucy just moved in front of Horologium, she seemed to line herself up carefully.

"Natsu, come over here for a sec'." Lucy waved him over and with a sigh he trudged over. Lucy positioned him in front of her and kept her hands on his shoulders. "Now, look in to the reflection on Horologium's body and tell me what you see."

He looked at the reflection and it took a moment focus his eyes correctly and when he did, he kind of wished he hadn't.

"Why the _fuck_ am I so short?" Natsu asked to no one in particular. "What the hell happened to me?"

He looked around for an answer but no one met his gaze until he saw Erza, she held his gaze. As expected of Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard. He saw her jaw clench as she swallowed and let out a breath that she'd been holding.

"You got hit by a spell, Natsu." Erza said. "A type of aging spell that cuts the target's age."

Natsu's eyes went wide and he frantically patted his hands over his body for confirmation. Erza must've changed his clothes while he was unconscious because he wore a deep, red shirt that was patterned like scales and a small, black pair of shorts. Even though he could tell that they were small, they fitted him well, all apart from his sandals which were now several sizes too big.

His hands no longer held the rough calluses that he'd acquired over the years and his fingers were notably short and child-like. He ran his small hands over his chin and found it to be sickeningly bare compared to the occasional stubble that cropped up before he burned it off his face.

"H-How old?" Natsu asked under his breath before getting angry at his weak, unbroken voice and shouting as he continued. "HOW OLD AM I?!"

Erza jumped at his sudden anger and even she could no longer face him.

"It would seem that Natsu-sama has been turned in to an eight year old." Natsu turned to see that it was Horologium that had answered him. "8.5 years old to be precise."

"Horologium is a master at telling times and ages." Lucy said. "I knew that he would be able to tell us a little more. Do you know what spell was used on Natsu?"

Horologium's eyebrows furrowed while he shuffled closer to Natsu and then leaned down to get a closer look at him.

"As Erza-sama said before, this in an aging spell." He said as he toyed with his moustache in a perplexed way. "I haven't seen this Lost Magic for quite some time, but I think the spell that was used, considering Natsu-sama's previous age, must've been **Seppan**: the age halving spell."

"A Lost Magic you say?" Mirajane confirmed and the spirit nodded. "I'm fairly sure that that mission was only a C class. Someone so dangerous should've qualified for at least an A class."

"There was no mention of what magic the criminal used." Erza pointed out. "Just that they were a dark guild member that needed apprehending."

Some more murmurs broke out through the crowd but Natsu didn't listen to them as he was already heading for the front door.

"Natsu!" Erza called behind him. "Where are you going?"

"To test something!"

He didn't bother to wait for her, to be honest he would've preferred to be alone for a while to think this through, but first thing first. He pulled the large doors open and ran outside to the top of the steps that lead down to the front gate and with all the strength his little body could muster, he jumped.

"**Karyuu no HOUKOU!" **Natsu bellowed as magic rushed towards his mouth. With a click in the back of his throat, the fire came forwards. A giant pillar of blistering flames, one that almost reached the clouds above. As Natsu screamed harder, the pillar widened and burst forth faster, the pillar stayed and the heat rose until it seemed that Natsu was satisfied. He closed his mouth and the column of fire disappeared without even a trail of smoke left behind. He then landed at the bottom of the steps with an audible thud.

The other guild members had gathered at the top of the stairs to watch Natsu's display of power, many of them gasped as they remembered just how strong Natsu was. The boy that destroyed the Tower of Heaven. The boy that ate Etherion. The boy that achieved Dragon Force. He really was a spectacle to behold. They looked to the bottom of the stairs where Natsu's young body was still steaming.

Then he turned to look at them and laughed.

"Man, I was worried there for a sec'!" Natsu chuckled. "I thought my magic was halved too."

Seeing his bright and smiling face, the guild looked at each other before bursting out laughing themselves. There was no way something so trivial would trouble Natsu! So what if he turned in to an eight year old? He wasn't even injured.

The guild gradually moved back indoors and only a handful were left at the top of the stairs. Natsu climbed back up the steps to meet them and they all smiled back down at him.

"Geez, I thought you were in some serious trouble there, flame brain." Gray said as he ruffled Natsu's hair, he was quickly batted away though.

"You know me, ice pick." Natsu grinned back. "There's no way I'd get in trouble."

They both shared a good laugh at that one. Gray then moved back in to the guild with Lucy and Happy leaving Erza with Natsu outside. She sighed and looked back down at him with the same concerned face as before.

"Are you _sure_ you're alright?" She asked. "I don't want you hiding anything from me, I want to fix the mistake I made, it's the least I can do."

"Erza, what are you talking about?" Natsu asked in reply. "You haven't made any mist-"

"Yes I have Natsu." Erza cut in. "You were my partner." She knelt down and threaded her fingers in his hair. He let her keep them there, he even admitted to himself that it felt good. "It was my job to look out for you and because of my failure you've been hit with a severe spell."

"Erza there's no reason to blame yourself." Natsu placed his little hand on Erza's arm and she almost instantly pulled him to her chest. He was expecting the pain that he always felt when she usually did that, but of course it never came. Instead a warm, comforting feeling washed over him and he allowed himself to settle in to her. "If I hadn't have jumped in I could've avoided the spell. Besides, it's not like I'm in any pain. My magic was unaffected too. The only downside I can see being like this is that I won't be able to travel long distances on foot during our missions. For now, the only thing I feel is hungry."

Erza let out a rare laugh down the back of his neck and it made his hair stand on end. He loved that sound, its authenticity, its depth; he had never felt it before because of her armour, but he also loved the almost growl-like vibrations through her body. Natsu smiled up at her and she smoothed his hair back as she pulled away.

Natsu thought that he was free to move away then but Erza had other ideas. Two strong hands grabbed him under the arms and faster than he could realise, he was being seated on her shoulders.

"Thanks Natsu." She said. "You always know what to say."

"That's still no reason to pick me up. Put me down." He complained. "This is embarrassing."

"No way." She flat out denied. "If you're going to make the most of being an eight year old, I want to enjoy it too."

"How is _this_ 'enjoying it'?" Natsu asked.

"I like to do this sort of thing with kids." She explained as she slowly made her way back in to the guild. "I've done it a couple of times with Asuka although it's mostly when Alzack and Bisca need someone to look after her when they're on missions. I would do this with Wendy if she was younger but I don't think she'd enjoy it so much if I did it now."

Natsu laughed at that, nearly knocking Erza off balance.

"She'd go all red and start flapping like she usually does." Natsu commented.

"So that only leaves you to do these things with now." Erza patted his hands that he kept on top of her head. "I have quite the powerful maternal instincts, y'know." Her shoulders seemed to rise a little with pride underneath Natsu. "Plus, this way you can't cause trouble for anything you thought you might've got away with because of your situation."

Natsu stiffened a little at the underlying threat but he knew that she was doing it for his own good. He might still have his magic but his body will be a lot more fragile for a while. Or should he say, he can _really_ push his body to the limits now.

That thought put a smile back on his face as Erza moved them over to the bar where Mira smiled as they approached.

"It doesn't look like your body's got you down, huh Natsu?" She said with a smile that everyone was always happy to see.

"No way!" Natsu said with vigour as Erza put him down on to a bar stool. "As long as I can come back home to the guild, I'm happy."

It was strangely quiet by the bar as Natsu sipped at the lemonade that Mira had instantaneously prepared for him. He glanced up and was surprised to see a blush creeping up Mira's face. He looked at Erza too and although she had turned away from him, he could still see that her ears were a darker shade of red than usual.

Natsu grinned. He'd got them, he knew he had. Natsu didn't say things like that often, which made others reactions all the more sweeter when he did. A bigger effect would take place if he mentioned specific people, be it directly or not, and that was exactly what Natsu was witnessing now. Maybe it was because of his very dominant and instinctive dragon characteristics, but Natsu thought that he might've been enjoying this a little too much.

"That's so sweet, Natsu." Mira swooned as she placed a hand to her cheek. "It's even more effective in that _cute_, little body."

Mira leant over the counter and smoothed his hair back just as Erza had outside, but something was different, it didn't feel as good with Mira doing it. The action almost irked him, he nearly swatted her hand away before he remembered about Mira's _other_ side.

**Satan Soul. **The second personality of Mirajane Strauss that was supressed with her sister, Lisanna's, presumed death. Natsu sometimes wondered if someone in the guild could push her far enough to go on a rampage like the old days. He had a mixed feeling of dread and anticipation for that day if it ever came. All he knew for certain was that this cheery barmaid would need someone of incredible strength to bring her down.

"Get a load of it while it lasts, Mira." Natsu said. "It's not like I'll stay like this forever."

"I guess you won't." Mira giggled. "Then you'll just have to excuse me for the moment."

Quick as a flash, Mira leaned fully over the counter, her feet coming off the floor and kissed Natsu on the cheek. Natsu reacted quickly. Almost instantaneously, he childishly wretched and wiped at his face as he fell from his stool and rolled around on the floor complaining loudly that it burned.

Erza had blushed and nearly scolded Mira for doing something so irresponsible; after all, he was still 17 on the inside. However, she took one look at his embarrassed face scraping along the floor and immediately softened as she was tempted to shower him in her affections as well. She wondered what it would be like to have a child of her own, a girl preferably, to see her for the first time after birth, to raise her, to watch her grow, fall in love. Erza's blush deepened a bit but she welcomed it. The only thing that caught her attention in a different light was that when she thought about the appearance of her fantasy daughter, _why was it that she had pink hair?_

"Hey, Natsu." Erza called and he immediately halted squirming around. "How would you like to live with me?"

…..

"Huh?"


	3. Chapter 3

Age Gap

Chapter 3

"Do I want to _what?_" Natsu asked, unsure of what he had heard.

"Do-you-want-to-live-with-me?" Erza asked him again.

Natsu stared at her for a few seconds with a blank mind before it was rapidly filled with 18+ thoughts. Images of a normal-sized Natsu relaxing on Erza's bed came to him, before he saw Erza come from another room dressed in the smallest towel she could find; cutting dangerously low on her chest and showing the maximum amount of thigh possible without making the story M rated. Natsu saw her and welcomed her with open arms as she prowled over to him. She pushed him down gently but with enough authority to let him know that she was taking the reins tonight. She let the towel slide from her wet, dazzling figure as she pulled his trousers and underwear down. She took a moment to flash him her lusty, half-lidded gaze before she opened her mouth and-

"Wh-wh-what do you mean?" His red face stuttered. "There's n-n-no need for us to l-live together. Why would I move out of my own house?"

"But I don't really like leaving you on your own." She said as if something like that was logical. "I'd feel uneasy otherwise."

Natsu's blush was just getting worse and worse with every word she said. How could she ask something like that? Even Natsu knew that people didn't ask those things in public.

"Listen Natsu." Erza continued. "An 8 year old cannot live on his own. Yes, you have your magic, but if they can somehow bypass that, you wouldn't be able to overthrow an assailant. And Happy _definitely_ doesn't count as a valid guardian. I want you to live with me for a while."

Natsu's blush subsided and an almost disappointed frown took over. So that's what she meant. Of course she wasn't like that, in all the time Natsu had known her, he'd never seen her do anything adult like, apart from maybe some of the clothes she wore or the books she read.

"Do I have to?" Natsu complained.

"Yes." Erza stated. "I won't take 'no' for an answer."

Natsu stared at her levelly then and for some reason Erza prepared herself for a fight. She'd seen him give her looks like that before, as blank as paper, impossible to decipher and from what she'd experienced, they could go either way. There was one time where she'd accidentally tripped him and he'd given her that look while he stood up. He held it for a couple of seconds before pushing her roughly backwards and storming out of the guild without a word.

However, there was a second time, more recently whilst on a mission, she'd offered him half of her tuna sandwich and he'd given her that look again. Once again, he held it for a couple of seconds, but this time he blushed and tentatively took the sandwich from her, their fingers brushing as he pulled away.

"I guess I'll be in your care then." Natsu finally said with a big, toothy grin. She smiled back and let her shoulders drop. "I'm gonna go over to Lucy and Gray."

Erza nodded her approval and he trotted over to their table where he plopped himself down again. Erza turned back to the bar only to see Mira staring at her with a raised eyebrow and a subtle smirk.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh, nothing." Mira said sweetly but Erza knew that she was far from done. "It's just that I never knew were the type to go for Natsu of all people."

"I don't understand." Erza stated with a tilt of her head. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean_," Mira started as she leaned dangerously close to Erza's face. "That you. Like. Natsu."

"Of course I like Natsu." Erza said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He's my friend, I like my friends."

"No, no." Mira tutted and tapped Erza on the nose playfully. "You _llllliiike_ him. You're on the road to luurrrving him."

That time, Erza understood fully. Erza didn't love Natsu, that was absurd. But obviously, she _did_ love him. He was a brilliant friend, a loyal companion, a fierce fighter and a fellow guild member. Of course she loved him.

"Not _that_ way." Erza said as she tried to hide her heated face from her best friend. "He has Lucy for that."

Mira glanced away for a second.

"It doesn't look like he's too bothered about her at all." Mira said with a hint of surprise. "Look."

Erza turned only to see Natsu looking right back at her. He showed her a wide grin and an excited expression that Mira giggled at.

"Aww, look." Mira fawned. "He hasn't been away from you for two minutes and see how much he misses you? He's like a little puppy, waiting for Master to return. Such a good boy."

"For some reason," Erza started. "I don't think Natsu would appreciate being compared to any other animal other than a dragon."

With that, Erza moved from her seat at the bar over to Natsu and the others. Erza could almost see a direct correlation of the distance between Natsu and herself, and the brightness of his expression. He spun back round to the table when Erza sat on his left and patted his head.

"Oi, Natsu." Gray complained. "Did you hear me?"

"Hmm?" Natsu replied big headedly, he obviously hadn't heard. "You were talking, ice pick?"

"Disregarding that insult, flame brain." Gray continued. "I asked if you'd be alright to do missions while you're in that state."

Erza had to repress a smile. It wasn't often that she heard Gray worry about Natsu's safety. Even if they were rivals, they were brothers first. But Erza still couldn't ignore the question.

"You betcha!"

"Absolutely not!"

"…"

The two turned to each other and Lucy leaned away from Natsu as she saw the sparks fly between him and redhead. Natsu let out a cute, little growl from his throat but Erza was having none of it as she blew air out of her nose.

"I can go on whatever quest I want, Erza." Natsu said threateningly but once again, Erza was immune.

"No, you can't, Natsu." Erza stated. "Your body as it is wouldn't be able to withstand any direct attacks. If we came across any people that could hurt you, which we do on a regular basis, they would have no qualms about taking your life once they find out the Salamander is in this sorry state."

Natsu's glare deepened so much that Lucy moved around to sit next to Gray instead. He didn't mind as he'd already moved to a different table for safety. They quietly sipped at their drinks and tried to avoid looking towards the angered pair.

"You know how strong I am." Natsu growled at Erza. "I even _showed_ you outside. You think a kid could do that kinda stuff? You think that just because I'm small, all the things I've learned, all the things I've experienced just mean jack shit now?"

"Natsu, I know very well that you're strong." Erza said with a sigh. "But your body, is _not_. I would have no trouble knocking you down as long I could get past your magic. Like I said before, this body isn't as capable as before, I just don't want to see you do something stupid and then get hurt."

"Then I guess I'll just have to compensate with magic where my body isn't up to scratch." Natsu said as he spun around like that was the end of it.

"No." Erza denied anyway. "It's not about you compensating, I don't want you to even _risk_ yourself while you are like this. If I have to I'd even risk my own life fo-"

Erza was forced to stop as her head snapped to aside from the force of Natsu's slap. The violent sound was heard throughout the guild, louder than the bickering and drunken brawls of every other member. This action was made with feeling.

"What was that for?!" Erza shouted at him, but Natsu didn't even flinch from his now standing position.

"What was that _for?_" Natsu asked in the carefully tone that he uses when he gets angry. "Have you forgotten?"

Erza didn't seem to look any wiser as she sat holding her now red cheek. The other members were now standing up to either get away from them or to get a better view. Gray and Lucy stayed where they were and Mira just kept drying glass tankards behind the bar even though a frown now donned her face.

"You have, haven't you?" Natsu continued. "Wow, I never thought that of all people, _you_ would be the one to forget; forget about the Tower of Heaven."

There almost seemed to be a pulse of tension through the air as Erza's eyes widened at the mention of that place. The crowds faces also seemed to fall a bit more.

"Of course I haven't forgotten about that place." Erza said in a quiet voice.

"Then why don't you tell me what I told you back then?" He asked as his body shook. "Why don't you tell me what I told you on the shore after I hauled you out of Aetherion?"

Their eyes met and she could tell that he was angry to the point of being on the brink of tears. She finally understood what he meant and felt ashamed of herself. He gaze went to the floor.

"You told me to 'never do that again'." She quoted.

"So you realise now?" He asked. "You realise that you almost broke your promise to me?"

"N-Natsu, I am so sorry." It was almost like she was begging. It was so uncharacteristic that it made the crowd feel embarrassed to watch the two fight, when it was obvious that it was on a whole other level, emotionally. "I said it in the heat of the moment. I was angry that you were going against me. I guess I still blame myself a little bit for what happened to you; in this instance and at the Tower. I'm so sorry."

She looked up at him then and he just melted. That soft smile and those watery, puppy dog eyes could bring even the hardest man to his knees. But, at this point, Natsu was a child.

"So you should be." Natsu said as the hot tears finally rolled down his cheeks. "It was hard for me too."

Erza wasted no time in bringing him in to a tight hug.

In those few minutes while Natsu cried in to her shoulder, Erza lost count of how many times she apologised after she hit 100. The crowd cleared away as Erza glared at them, though a few came over to try and help sooth Natsu but they made no difference. Lucy running her hands slowly through his hair had no effect. Mira hugged him from behind, but Erza got quickly annoyed with her as she rested her cow boobs on Natsu's head, so she chased her away.

His wails seemed to fall quieter as sweet, little Wendy took one of his hands and whispered soothing words in his ear. Erza wondered if she was fuelling her words with magic to be able to have this much effect.

All efforts were simply ignored by Natsu, who had finally accepted Erza's embrace. His hands had instinctively grabbed her shirt and in order to silence himself he gently sunk his teeth on to Erza's right shoulder. The slight sting made her jump but he didn't break her skin, after a few seconds she even felt his warm tongue relax on her skin. Erza could even feel a little bit of his familiar magic seeping in to her with a pleasurable tingling.

Natsu gradually quietened down and let go of Erza's clothing, although his teeth didn't unlatch from her skin.

"There we go." Erza cooed in his ear. "Feeling better?"

Natsu's teeth dug a little harder as he sniffed and nodded. Out of the corner of her eye, Erza could see Natsu's tear stained face and his drooping eyelids. When they were little he always did get sleepy after crying. They used to sleep together with Gray sometimes under a tree in the park.

A nostalgic feeling washed over Erza as she stroked the short hairs on the back of his neck. She was surprised when Natsu released her to lean his head against the crook of her neck. Did Natsu like the feeling on the back of his neck rather than across his scalp? Erza had trouble understanding his preference as her long thick hair made it quite difficult to access the back of her neck.

Natsu sighed on to her collarbone and an uncontrollable shiver ran through her. She saw out of a nearby window that night had already fallen.

"Why don't we call it a day?" Erza asked softly as she bumped Nastu's temple with her chin. "We've had a long day. I could do with an early night. Hm?"

There were a few moments before Natsu nodded, yawned till he showed his fangs and then settled himself again to look over her shoulder.

"Alright then, let's go home." Erza picked Natsu up and he wrapped his arms around her neck like he'd done it a thousand times before. Erza went to the bar where Mira smiled warmly as she saw the two approach.

"You two OK now?" She asked with concern in her eyes.

"Yeah, we will be." Erza reassured. "But we're going to head home now. A lot's happened today."

"Sure thing, Erza." Mira agreed. "Let's hope the spell wears off overnight."

"It better do." Natsu commented quietly and the girls shared a laugh at that.

"We'll be heading off then." Erza said and Mira waved them off. Somewhere along the line a fight had broken out again between the other members, but it was on neither of the two's minds. After all these years Erza could now subconsciously sidestep any airborne tankards or upturned tables without a second thought. Although this time because of Natsu she took a little extra care in avoiding the hazards, but it didn't seem to bother Natsu as he continued to stare at nothing in particular over her shoulder.

The rest of Team Natsu gave their farewells to the pair before re-joining the action. Even Gajeel came over, which slightly surprised Erza. He blocked their way and Erza stood still, she knew that he wanted something.

"Why do you smell weird?" The iron dragon-slayer asked.

"Natsu doesn't smell any different than usual." Erza stated and went to move by him but he held a hand out to stop her.

"Not him. _You_." Gajeel corrected. "You smell all odd and somethin' ain't right."

He attempted to step closer but a glare from Erza sent him back another two.

"You really have no idea how to talk to girls, do you?" She asked in a pissed manner. "Do you tell every woman they smell weird?"

"Quite self-conscious ain't you?" Gajeel shot back. "That _wasn't_ an insult. There's a strange smell around you, like something big is gonna happen."

"Well thank you for your concern Gajeel." Erza said, still not entirely calm. "But I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

Erza walked past him then, not letting anything distract her until she reached the door and Gajeel called out once again.

"Just remember, I told you so." He did that silly little laugh of his before running over to the dog pile that was quickly forming with Gray, unluckily, on the bottom and jumping on the top, earning plenty of groans and yelps.

Erza moved through the main doors and out in to the still night. Even though she had only moved less than 30 meters away, the difference in noise level was incredible. Erza could actually hear herself think. She took a moment to reposition Natsu in her arms and he shuffled accordingly.

"Erza." He called in a small voice.

"Something the matter?" She asked.

"Yeah, to be honest." Natsu admitted. This was a rare event. Natsu barely ever told anyone of his personal problems. Everyone always knew of course, because of his foul moods at those times but you'd have to beat him up to get any explanation out of him. For him to talk freely about his worries was strange indeed. "I didn't like th…"

The last part was too quiet for Erza to hear even though his mouth was less than 10 centimetres away from her ear.

"Pardon? I didn't quite catch that last part."

"I said I didn't like the way Gajeel…"

He trailed off again.

"One more time?"

"I _said_, I didn't like the waY GAJEEL WAS TALKING TO YOU." Natsu was talking a little too loud for comfort out in this quiet night, but the confession wasn't made upon deaf ears.

Erza lost her stride for a moment and she physically had to force herself to pick it up again. Natsu's outburst had left her mind almost blank, but not blank enough to stop a flush forming over her cheeks. She turned even so slightly away from him to hide it, while the cool night air attempted to take it away from her. Erza cleared her throat.

"I don't think he speaks to me any differently than he does everyone else." Erza said. "I don't see any reason why he should treat me specially."

"I don't really like him talking to you at all." Natsu mumbled with a little growl. "He just doesn't mix with you, I've seen how annoyed you can get with him and I don't like it. I don't want to see you get angry."

"I wouldn't say that we argue all the time." Erza rebutted. "Don't I argue with you a lot too?"

"But that's because I tease you." Natsu said guiltily quiet. "Besides, you smile a lot more around me than you do with him."

"How would you know that?"

"That's because you don't smile very often, Erza." Natsu said and his carrier's mood dropped ever so slightly. "So when you do, it's warmer than other people's and a lot more noticeable. I always notice when you smile."

Erza took note that the remnants of her blush had crept back to full strength.

"Th-thanks, Natsu." Erza could only manage a lopsided smile whilst in the midst of her quickened heartbeat. "I like it when you smile too."

It was a textbook response and she was almost ashamed that she had let a good chance to give a heartfelt compliment, slip through her fingers. She glanced at Natsu and almost instantly took back her words. His face was just as red as hers had been. He had even turned away from her but the pink tinge to his ears was giving him away. Erza figured that Natsu was also quite unused to being complimented, even with her wooden words. All he seemed to do was trade insults with the other men in the guild and all the women just reprimanded him for his abrasive behaviour.

Erza would know, as she was the same. She tried to act prideful, borderline big-headed, if she received a compliment, but that didn't stop them hitting deep. She knew Natsu's feelings well. Compliments were strange.

Erza stopped and Natsu slipped a bit, he wasn't ready for the halt.

"We're here." Erza announced. "Fairy Hills. I'll talk to the dormitory manager to get you permission to stay here for a while. No need to worry."

Natsu's grip around her neck tightened a little and she remembered that Natsu was always wary of new places when he was a child. As Erza fished her front door key out from her skirt pocket, she itched at her right shoulder where Natsu had clamped his teeth previously. She could still feel the sensation like it had never ended.

Erza unlocked the door and moved them inside.

"Well, well." A new voiced cooed. "What have we here?"


	4. Chapter 4

Age Gap

Chapter 4

"Well, well" A new voiced cooed. "What have we here?"

Erza froze as a shiver ran up her back, it was so strong that she somehow passed it on to Natsu and he also stiffened at the unexpected greeting. Erza turned to see an overweight, middle-aged woman stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot on the solid, wooden flooring. Erza felt Natsu hide himself a little behind her; she didn't blame him. The Dormitory Manager wasn't a sight for sore eyes.

With her chubby hand clamped to her padded hip and the piercing glare of those dull, beady eyes from over her glasses perched on the end of her nose, Erza knew that she wasn't going to receive a warm welcome. The woman tucked her greasy, greying, brown hair behind her ear before she sighed.

"And what do you think you're doing, Scarlet?" The Dorm Manager said with little enthusiasm.

Erza's dry throat made swallowing her discomfort hard, but she somehow managed to speak up.

"Ah, Dorm Manager." Erza said with a smile with as much strain as the stick that the Dorm Manager was leaning on. "I was hoping to run in to you."

"Were you now?" She asked with a voice laced with sarcasm. "And what might you need today?"

Erza wasted no time in asking for what she wanted. She knew from experience that she needed to be firm with this woman.

"I want you to let me take care of my cousin for a few days." Erza stated. "His parents sent him on ahead of them as a problem arose in the last minute."

"Hmm?"

The Dorm Manager didn't seem very convinced at all as she hobbled up to Erza and glared at Natsu who clung tighter to her back. There wasn't much that could get past the Dorm Manager's eyes, but that didn't mean they were _fool proof_.

"What your name, boy?" She asked as she glowered up at Erza's shoulder.

"It's Natsumi." Natsu said. Erza was impressed that he had caught on to the situation and adapted so quickly to it, even coming up with another name in the short amount of time that he had. He was sharper than she thought. "I came from the next town over. Me and my parents came to visit Erza-onee-chan."

Even if Natsu knew the situation, that didn't stop him from rising to the challenge that the Dorm Manager's eyes seemed to perpetually throw about.

"Hmph." She still didn't look happy about a male's presence in the female dorms but she sighed, defeated. "Fine, fine. I'll allow it, but keep him out of trouble Scarlet. I don't want to have to explain why a civilian got tangled up in a load of you Fairy Tail brat's problems. You always seem to find someone that hates your guts."

Erza couldn't help but be a little joyous about their small victory as she agreed to the conditions and half, speed-walked away from her. They headed up the first flight of stairs that they came across and Natsu counted Erza stride up two floors. He watched in fascination as the muscles in Erza's thighs move in tandem with the motions she made. Natsu always seemed to forget that despite Erza's incredible good looks, her body wasn't just for display, she was a fully functioning model alright.

She reached the top of the stairs and paused before addressing Natsu.

"Do you mind hopping down for this last little stretch?" Erza asked. Natsu noted that she didn't look or sound fatigued at all, but he understood the burden that carrying another person caused, even if they were just a child.

Natsu let himself slide down Erza's frame, careful not to let his cheek rub against her rear cheek. Once on the ground he moved to Erza's left and his right hand reached up for her left just as naturally as he had stuck to her back like a limpet. Her motherly instincts took over once again as she almost instantaneously accepted his small hand. It'd been a long time since they'd held hands like this; Erza remembered that Master always made the kids of the guild hold hands like this when they went out in to the city to shop with the adults. Erza and Mira holding one of the Master's hands each and Natsu held her hand while Gray held Mira's.

Erza smiled softly at the memories and Natsu saw it at a glance but he decided not to press it. He could get a rough gist of the things running through Erza's head at most times because of her expressions and little changes in her scent but it was just plain _weird_ when she went in to this "girly mode". This hardened warrior, this unshakable Titania just seemed to… melt.

Natsu had taken notice that it usually happened when she took her armour off for extended amounts of time. A couple of years ago, after as much studying as Natsu's mind could handle (which was about half an hour) he came to the conclusion that her armour wasn't just for guarding her body, she used it as a type of emotional barrier too. She, in herself, couldn't really deal with extremely strong emotions such as love, hate and depression. She used the armour as an excuse to make herself cold to almost everyone around her.

Although, things started to change once Erza had requested for his and Gray's help in tracking down Eisenwald. Ever since then lots of things had happened. Natsu idly counted them on his free hand. There was Lullaby, Galuna Island, Phantom Lord and of course the Tower of Heaven. He had a feeling that if he were to bring up the last one to Erza, as she was right now, it would be something he'd regret doing. That subject would always be sore for her, he didn't blame her, the mere _name_ of that place left a bad taste in his own mouth.

Natsu looked back up at Erza just as she mirrored the action. She smiled widely down at him and all of a sudden he forgot what he was thinking about. But as the smile caught on his features too, he realised he didn't even care. A strand of her hair fell over her face and she went cross eyed when she looked at it. She chuckled in that sensual way that he loved and she pushed it back behind her ear.

_Holy dragon turds, he _so _loved this girl._

Natsu was suddenly almost pulled off his feet when Erza stopped abruptly.

"We're here." She announced as she let go of his hand to unlock the door. "Welcome to my humble abode, Natsu."

She pushed the door open and placed her hands on Natsu's shoulders as she guided him in ahead of her. Once Erza's hands left his shoulders he didn't take a single step on his own. His feelings at that moment were surprisingly mixed. One half of him wanted to run through every one of the five rooms that Erza owned and rummage through every drawer that he laid his eyes on until he found something that he could blackmail her with in future reference.

But the other side of his wasn't so positive. Natsu was aware of Erza. Her grace, her beauty, her intelligence and even her vocabulary; and it all seemed so much better than he could ever be. Looking around the first of Erza's huge rooms at the alphabetically, arranged bookshelves and tidy desks, Natsu couldn't help but feel inferior. He felt like he would be a nuisance here, a tomato stain on a white shirt. He didn't dare take another step inside.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come." He murmured, barely loud enough for himself to hear.

"Why not?" Erza asked. Her warrior's senses had picked up on the whisper like he'd spoken it straight in to her ear. "What's wrong?"

Natsu instantly backed off and went in to a frenzy of blurred words, trying to find a valid excuse but no coherent one came to him. Erza's brow had furrowed and she was now leant over with her hands on her knees. The motion caused her hair to tumble over her shoulders but it wasn't enough to block Natsu's view that went straight down her blouse and couldn't help but notice the porcelain skin of her chest, held in place by only the light blue lacy bra that he caught a glimpse of. He felt even worse.

"You told me before that Gajeel was bothering you." Erza continued. "What's so different this time?"

He took a step away from her and she took a step forward in her hunched position and even Erza noticed that her breasts bounced because she shamelessly readjusted her bra right then in front of him.

"Everything's different." He said as he turned away. "You've always been more important to me than he is. Which is _why_ I feel bad about imposing on you."

Erza chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"Natsu, I want you to think back." She said softly. "Back to all those times that we've fought, all the times that we've argued, all the times we've travelled together, all the time we've spent together overall."

Natsu thought back and smiled at all the precious memories that he was so fond of. Even if Erza's crying face cropped up before him in his mind, he still felt warm because she would never do that unless she cared tremendously about something.

"Now think about how many times you'll have imposed on me over the years." His face fell slightly, he remembered Erza wasn't very good at pep talks. "And how many of those times do you think I was annoyed at you for it? Hmm?"

Natsu knew that she was looking for an answer, but his flushed face prevented him from turning back to her.

"I dunno, a lot?" He guessed sullenly.

It was then that he felt her warm hand on his shoulder as she turned him around and before his eyes could even focus she had touched his forehead tenderly with her own. An image of a coastline and tattered clothing flashed in his mind.

"Never." She finalised as she stared in to his charcoal eyes with her own sly, coffee coloured eyes. "Never have I once thought that you were a burden. The bonds I have with my friends and my Fairy Tail family are what make me strong. Without even a single one of you, my world would come crashing down."

Natsu was shocked in to silence, partly from learning something new about Erza and partly from realising her close her face was. His straight nose ran parallel to her ever so slightly Celestial nose where it pressed even more firmly in to his face. She giggled a little at Natsu's stunned silence and shook her head against his own. Her nose fell out of alignment with his and slid down the side until it pressed against his cheek. Her expression relaxed and her taut, bow shaped lips filled out again, she almost got away with it too but as if she had smashed their teeth together he felt her upper lip brush his.

Natsu could feel a primal desire almost taking him over. He could take a single step forwards and satisfy himself. He dragon's ego within him knew that if he got his way he could satisfy _her_. He pushed that thought aside before it developed into something more but that didn't stop him feeling weak kneed at her touch.

"Sorry… Erza" He said finally. "I don't know what came over me. Maybe this **Aging Spell **affected me a little more than I thought."

"Apology accepted." She grinned. "Why don't we move to the bedroom? Things will be more comfortable there."

Natsu let the innuendo slide as she took his hand, lead the way to her bedroom and Natsu raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw what lay behind the door. Clothes were scattered across the floor, a couple of swords lay here and there and it looked like a pile of books that was sat on the floor had fallen over too creating a little hurdle in the middle of the floor. In other words, Erza's room was messy.

"Burgular?" Natsu asked and Erza didn't miss a beat smacking him upside the head.

"No, of course not!" She defended quickly and a grin crept across Natsu's face. "I just never got round to cleaning up when we got back from our mission. I always pull so much equipment out that we might need that I never bother siding it all again until I come back."

Natsu's grin didn't subside as he took a few careful steps around the room, making sure not to stand on anything breakable or even worse, to tread on a sword. There were various pictures on the wall, some of them he recognised like the picture of Team Natsu and some of their temporary members that Reedus had them all gather for. He picked it up carefully and smiled warmly.

Natsu, Gray and Lucy stood at the front, all smiling happily but Lucy's eyes weren't on Reedus, they were on the Fairy Tail insignia that was flickering in Natsu's palm. Happy, Erza and Wendy stood just above the front trio, respectively and Natsu found himself looking at Erza's face just a little longer than the others. The others didn't know, and nobody could tell from the picture but Natsu knew that Erza's hand was on his back. As he remembered, Goosebumps spread across his skin, starting in the same place that Erza's fingers had brushed him that day. Lastly, at the very top of the picture was Carla and Gajeel, but Natsu's focused eyes barely even noticed them. His thumb unconsciously traced Erza's jaw and it was only when he realised that he couldn't see all of her while doing that, did he move his thumb.

"Oh, I remember that day." Erza spoke from behind him and Natsu nearly dropped the picture in surprise. "That brings back memories."

Natsu looked over his shoulder to see Erza with her hand on her chin and a nostalgic grin over her features. He chuckled a little forcefully.

"But Erza." He said with pity. "This was only painted a couple of months ago, just before the Grand Magic Games."

"Oh?" Erza said as her smile changed for the worse. "Does that stop it being a nice memory?"

Her hand had removed itself from her face and she began to wriggle her fingers in midair, like little claws. Natsu knew what this motion meant from his childhood days with Lisanna. Natsu carefully put the picture back where it was.

"No, ma'am." He said quickly. "Not at all, it's a nice memory indeed."

He bowed deeply in hopes of throwing Erza off but she wasn't having it as she crept forwards a couple of paces. Natsu backed up towards the bed, no longer caring about what he was stepping on, as long as he could escape.

"Then why does it matter when the painting was made?" Erza asked with a mad glint in her eye. "I won't forgive you."

Natsu tried to dash away but he slipped on one of Erza's tank tops, which she took advantage of. Her precise steps came forwards way too quickly for him to defend and before he knew it she had already pushed him down on to the bed.

"I hope you're ready for your punishment, Natsu." Erza purred as her hair spilled down to stroke his face.

Natsu tried to protest but it was too late, her hands had already shot for his armpits. Her fingers proceeded to rampage. The next ten minutes were an absolute blur and shrieking laughter, protests on deaf ears and squirming like an electrocuted earthworm. Natsu was fairly sure that there were places that weren't ticklish but when Erza was touching them, they became some of his most sensitive places. When Natsu managed to push her off the bed he had but a moment to switch himself in to offensive mode before Erza leapt at him again.

He used her momentum to flip her over so that he was on top this time and her expression changed almost instantly to one of fear.

"Now, Erza." Natsu growled cockily. "I hope you've had your fun. Because now it's my turn."

He dived in the same way she did and the effects were immediate. She bucked underneath him and he had to lower himself down to keep his balance. There was no way she was going to win this. She squealed in an completely un-Erza like way and she tried in vain to push him away. Natsu was surprised with how strong a child's body actually was and how long they could last for, especially when being half beaten up.

But eventually his energy ran out just as Erza reached the stage where her body broke out in to an exhausted sweat and laughing tears escaped from her eyes. He let his tight grip on her blouse go as he stood up and moved a step back. He wiped the thin layer of sweat from his brow with his arm and watched Erza's chest push her shirt out as she tried to calm her laboured breathing. Erza was also sweating, he saw one particular bead roll down her collarbone and disappear in to her cleavage which was displayed even more than before as one of the buttons on her blouse must've come undone during their loving brawl.

She brought her hand up and pushed her thick hair from her forehead, revealing her right eye that she has got in to the habit of covering lately. Her long lashed eyelids closed and her lips met each other as she sighed through her nose.

This new Erza baffled Natsu.

Erza was an entity that did not waver. She was an ironclad knight, the finest one this world will ever see. She was a steely gazed demon that looked even dragons straight in the eye. She was the strongest woman he knew, mentally, physically and magically. To him, _that_ Erza was awesome.

But this Erza that he had seen today wasn't any of these things. He knew that Erza was capable of emotions that were different from her stereotype but this was different from even the deviation. This Erza was a mother with no child to love. She was a playmate that he could spend hours on end with. She was just another teenage girl that smiled, laughed, cried and got angry. To him, _this_ Erza was charming.

Natsu flopped down on his belly next to Erza and studied the face of this new person. It was uncanny how much she looked like the Erza he used to know, but instead of a frown, this Erza donned a smile. Natsu noticed then that with her slender arm over her forehead and a hand on her stomach, she had fallen asleep. Her breathing was now slow and smooth and just as he shuffled a little closer to her, he heard a light rumbling from the back of her throat. She was snoring.

He chuckled breathily and Erza twitched from the heat of it. Her face scrunched up for a second before she rolled over and sub-consciously grabbed Natsu. Her arms slid around his ribs and before he could prepare himself she had pulled his to herself. He would've been fine with her just snuggling in her sleep, but it was the fact that she had done it with so much force that his head met hers.

His nose met hers.

His lips met hers.

It was only for a moment. Yet that moment was all that was needed for Natsu to take note of how Erza's lips felt. They were soft but the definite womanly shape to them kept her lips firm. They were also warm. Natsu could feel that better than anyone else with his magic being so closely associated with heat. But it wasn't a warmth that was used to keep to herself. This type of warmth was infectious and it flooded in to him, in those couple of seconds that their lips were in contact.

Natsu smiled and pulled away gently. Who knew that of all the people he knew, that Erza would've been the one to take his first kiss? Certainly not him. He was disappointed that he couldn't have taken hers, as he had witnessed first-hand Erza's kiss with Jellal, but he was happy enough that she would keep his safe, even if she wasn't aware of what was going on.

Natsu saw the clock on the wall and it told him that it was late. He yawned as if on cue and settled his head down underneath Erza's chin. Her sleeping frame instantly accepted his warm body as she held him a little tighter. Natsu slowed his breathing and closed his eyes and he took in Erza's sweet smell. Light strawberries and thick caramel.

That night, Natsu dreamt of cheesecake.


	5. Chapter 5

Age Gap

Chapter 5

When Erza awoke, it was gradual. Her eyes attempted to open but she quickly realised that it was too damn bright outside. She squeezed her eyes shut again and buried her face in her pillow, her oddly warm pillow. With her non-existent vision she lifted her head and snaked her arms underneath her pillow to flip it over to the cold side but she noticed that it was even hotter on the other side and she couldn't even lift it while her muscles were still like jelly. The pillow must've been snagged on something. Oh well, more sleep for her.

She settled her head back down and squeezed the pillow that she had her arms around still and let out a content sigh as she tensed her back up and then relaxed again, allowing her sleepy body to melt in to the ridges of the bed. However, what she was not expecting, was the pillow to hug her _back_.

Her eyes snapped open and she entertained the thought of squirming away but she knew now, that if she moved, she would end up getting out of bed and she really didn't want to. Her eyes took a few moments to focus but when they did, she saw pink. Quite a vibrant pink too, but the colour alone wasn't her main concern. Neither was it the fact that Natsu's sleeping face was less than a foot away from her own. She was disturbed by a much more serious matter.

"NATSU DRAGNEEL!" Erza shouted as she backed up so fast that she fell off the bed. "_Why_ in all of Earthland ARE YOU NAKED?"

Scrambling around on the floor she managed to find one of the silver, long swords that was lying around. Her arm thrust the sword towards Natsu, stopping just below his chin.

Natsu's eyes opened slowly as he looked around, confused at his surroundings. Though as soon as he saw the sun glimmer on the blade that Erza held to his neck, any and all fatigue he might have felt went away in an instant and was replaced by a cold sweat.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." He said as he held his hands up in surrender. "What the hell's going on?"

"Don't put it on _display._" Erza snapped with a blush and moved the wide blade to cover his crotch from her view. "Make yourself decent."

Erza turned her head away while he looked for his clothes. But she flicked her eyes back as she heard Natsu making confused noises.

"Erm, Erza?" He asked. "Why are my clothes all ripped? You have a fit or something?"

Daring to take another glance she saw the problem that was Natsu's clothes lying all around him in tatters. The only clothing he had on, she took note, was the shredded remains of his t-shirt's right sleeve, which he saw and promptly ripped off as it was tickling his bare arm. This left him, completely, well and truly, starkers. She flushed a little harder at that knowledge.

"_No_. I did not have a fit." Erza bit. "Did you burn them off in your sleep or something?"

Natsu clicked his fingers in comprehension, like that was a perfectly viable explanation. But in Natsu's case, it most likely was. He picked up a piece of clothing and inspected the edges carefully but found no evidence of it being burnt, she even held it to his nose but he could smell no smoke. There was some really bad fraying and rough splits in the fabric that made it look like it had burst. Before the Lisanna incident, when Mirajane was still mean, he had been dragged him to a movie theatre where they were showing something that Mira wanted to see. There was a creature in that that lived inside people and then burst out of their chests; he shivered as he remembered the gory scene. Natsu had given Mira the cold shoulder for two weeks after that for scarring him mentally.

"Nope." He said having taken no offense from Erza's slight shot at his destructive side. "It's definitely been split." He then looked over his own body finding nothing out of the ordinary. "I don't get how they split without anything going for me. I mean, if they wanted to attack me they could've at least done it while I was awake so I could give them a good sma-"

Once again Erza's eyes were drawn to Natsu as his speech suddenly stopped. She caught sight of his expression and momentarily forgot about his nakedness. She had only seen that expression a few times, she could count every instance on one hand. He seemed to look much more animalistic like this, his brow furrowed, eyes wide and his pupils just mere slits, revealing the neon green irises that were usually stretched so thin by his large pupils that they were unable to be seen.

The first time she had seen his green eyes was at the Tower of Heaven. A single fleck of green in the midst of the predominant blue and red, but completely overpowering every other colour at the same time. It really was just like she thought looking in to a dragon's eyes would be like. She would never forget that scene for as long as she lived. The day she saw Natsu become a man in her eyes.

"Wh-what's wrong?" She stuttered. Was she intimidated by Natsu while he was like this?

"I'm back." He stated. "I'm grown up again."

He moved his bright eyes to her then and even though she knew that he wanted her to check his age for herself she couldn't bring herself to tear her gaze away. Was it true what they said; 'Power can attract many characters'? She was utterly captivated, she could be dribbling right now and she wouldn't even know. His eyes moved for a fraction of a second and in that short time, he lost his seriousness as well as his green to his black.

"Umm, Erza?" He said as he pointed at his mouth. "You're kinda dribbling."

Her flush came back in full force as she furiously wiped at her mouth and found that she had indeed, been dribbling. But even as she was distracted for a second, she did now recognise the depth of Natsu's voice, the cheery grit behind it that sometimes made the hair on the back of her neck stand and when she did finally get a solid look at him, she saw that he truly was back to normal. She could barely contain her joy.

"Natsu, that's great!" She cheered. "The spell actually wore off."

She got up and took a few running steps at Natsu to glomp him. He even held his arms out for her, but unfortunately she had to stop because he was till naked. She folded her arms and turned away awkwardly and pointed to the top drawer of the set of drawers at the dn of her bed.

"Put some clothes on first."

She heard him chuckle sheepishly and move off the bed. His bare feet padded along the floor like a cat and for a moment she thought he was coming closer to her and her face reddened for the umpteenth time that morning. But alas, it was not to be. The drawer slid open and she heard Natsu make a surprised noise when he saw his adult clothes in there. When he had first been hit by the spell, she had used her magic to store away his clothes in her room, seeing as though they were just hanging off his young body.

He heard the smooth material slide over his skin and the elastic on his trouser waist band snap against his muscular abs when he pulled it.

"What about now?" He asked and when Erza turned she saw that he held his arms out once again.

Erza smiled.

"Sure." She didn't hesitate to move in to his embrace and wrap herself around him too. She noticed that she didn't have a hold of the sword anymore and wondered briefly where she had put it before Natsu's strong arms squeezed her around her shoulders and back and she almost forgot her own name from the pleasure of it all. "It's good to have you back, Natsu."

She felt a vibration through her head where it lay against his chest as he laughed.

"It's good to _be_ back, Erza." He replied as he nudged his forehead against her head affectionately. She looked up and a feeling seemed to pass between them. Her hair fell from her shoulder, down her back and Natsu watched it all the way.

Erza had never noticed how close their heights were to each other before. But now that they were stood up straight; stood chest to chest, Erza realised that she didn't even need to raise her eyes to meet his own. His face was right there, there were no obstacles, no barriers, no problems. She was already embracing him, there was just one more step to take. She felt on top of the world at that moment. She could finally do it. All these years of holding back and now the time was here. She was nervous, sure, but as her face closed in on his and he reflected her movements, Erza didn't care.

She would kiss him. She would feel his warmth on a whole new level. She could tell him how she felt. She could start something serious with him. Something she had dreamt of doing on more than one occasion. She could _finally_…

"Hey, Erza, you up yet? There was that book you borrowed last week and I was wondering if you could tell me what the antagonist's fath-"

Natsu and Erza were both sure that they had never moved so fast in their lives as they leapt apart and quickly turned away from each other. Little did they know that it was too late, Levy's slightly flushed face had seen them in the other's arms about to lock lips.

"Want me to come back later?" Levy asked but Erza flapped her hands in a girlish way as she struggled to make a sentence.

"No, not at all." She finally managed. "Natsu and I were just getting ready to go to the guild."

"It looked like you were ready to go elsewhere." Levy muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! You didn't hear me muttering." Levy also flapped her hands to wave away suspicion. "Well, I'll meet you over there."

Levy hurriedly closed the door and the two that were left could hear her almost sprint away. They looked at each other for a moment and whereas Natsu wondered if they were going to continue where they left off, Erza flushed and turned away.

"I'm going to go brush my teeth and then once you're done after me we'll head over to the guild, OK?" Erza didn't stick around to hear his answer as she left through the second door in the room, leading presumably to the bathroom.

The door closed softly, leaving Natsu by his self.

"Yeah, sure thing." He said to no one.

Natsu couldn't help but feel a little sting in his chest from her behaviour but he knew not to blame her. Natsu knew that having someone walk in on those situations was a definite killer of the mood from all the times he'd walked in on Gray and Juvia. He thanked the Dragon King that they weren't doing anything more than embracing in those moments. He didn't need that image burned in to his skull.

Natsu blamed himself more than anything.

_If I was still young would she have been more willing? Would she have pulled away?_

Natsu had seen first-hand how much more comfortable Erza was when she was with his child version, and true, the atmosphere had headed in a great direction once he turned back. But now that they had been interrupted, would things continue to be this awkward between them? It would be bound to raise questions with their friends if the air was too tense. Natsu didn't want to worry anyone with his personal problems, if they were even _problems_. Did she have problems opening up to normal-him? Was he too unapproachable, too intimidating?

Natsu doubted that Erza's loving side was any weaker than her usual self so he had trouble believing that it was because he was too scary. It's not like he was going to eat her or anything. He blushed suddenly as the image of the inside of a pair of thighs brushing his cheeks and a certain warm moisture running down his chin appeared in his mind. He shook the scene out of his head before he got any stupid ideas.

Unexpectedly, the door opened before Natsu had time to collect his thoughts and as Erza met his eyes she saw some kind of a pain behind them.

"Natsu." She muttered, a little shocked. "Are you OK? You're looking quite pale."

"Yeah, I'll be OK." Natsu's mind was racing for an excuse. "I was looking around your room too fast and got a bit of motion sickness."

Erza stared at him for a few moments before having to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter. He didn't think that it was too funny but he was smiling too, just because she was. Once she wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes she told Natsu to get ready so he moved in to the bathroom and shut the door behind himself.

"Use the blue brush Natsu!" Erza called to him. "That's the spare one."

Natsu looked around the bathroom and breathed in the minty smell, finding a little joy in knowing that this smell was now what was on Erza's breath. He moved to the little round sink and saw the tumbler that held the two toothbrushes. His rebellious side debated using the pink brush that was still glistening with water droplets, just to freak Erza out but she was doing him a massive favour in letting him stay here. The least he could do was abide by the rules she set.

He plucked the blue brush from its stand and saw the toothpaste on a shelf to his right. He picked the shrivelled one and read the packaging as he used the contents that he spread across the bristles to scrub at his sharp teeth.

Spearmint. That was odd, wasn't most toothpaste peppermint? He took another breath in through his nose and noticed the subtle difference between the two. He'd never smelt this flavour inside a toothpaste. Trust Erza to go her own way.

He spit and washed the brush with warm water before moving out of the bathroom where Erza stood with her back to him.

"Ah, Natsu." She said and she turned to him. "That was quick."

Natsu instantly took note that she had changed clothes. He didn't know if she had **Requipped** out of her blouse and skirt but if Natsu was honest he preferred what she wore currently. She had opted for a black, turtle-necked jumper and Natsu didn't let it slip by him that it seemed to make her breasts seem a little rounder than usual. Maybe because of how tight it seemed against her body, allowing him to easily see her curvaceous outline. She had also exchanged her blue skirt for a pair of beige, corduroy trousers that hugged her well-formed legs.

Natsu shrugged in answer to her statement and it seemed to satisfy her.

"Shall we get going then?" Erza asked. "Everyone'll be glad to see you as your regular self."

Natsu smiled cheekily at her proposal.

"Sure thing." He said excitedly. "I wanna go pick a fight with Gray as fast as I can."

"You want to _what_?" Erza asked and it was only then that Natsu realised that this was still Erza that he was talking to.

"I-I mean I want to go enjoy a nice conversation with my long time buddy, Gray!" Natsu let out a nervous laugh and rubbed at the back of his head, almost in anticipation of Erza smacking him there.

Erza sighed but her threatening aura seemed to dissipate with the exhale.

"Why don't you try to get along better with him, Natsu?" She queried. "You've been best friends for years. Don't you ever get tired of fighting with Gray?"

"No way!" Natsu denied with a wide grin. "Gray's strong! That's why I keep picking fights with him; someone strong to fight."

Erza folded her arms under her bountiful chest and a slender eyebrow raised but she chuckled like she knew the feeling of rivalry. She took a couple of steps towards the door and clicked her fingers with each step. A bright light appeared at her feet as she clicked and when her foot made contact with the ground, in the light's place was a pair of black, suede boots. She pointed at the foot of the bed when she turned back to Natsu, opening the door in to the corridor behind her.

"Grab your shoes." She said. "You can't kick Gary's ass with bare feet now can you?"

Natsu's face lit up as Erza was now speaking his kind of language; kicking ass and casual cursing. He scuffed his sandals on to his bare feet and ran past Erza cheering about finding someone to fight.

Erza laughed but noticed something was amiss about him.

_Ah._

She quickly turned back in to her bedroom and saw it folded neatly on her dresser. Picking the scarf up she ran her fingers along the small but hard, white scales and wondered how it could be so smooth and soft at the same time. Sneakily looking behind her she saw that Natsu was nowhere in sight.

"Just for today." She muttered to herself as she tied the warm scarf around her neck. "Maybe this'll stop me rubbing at it."

She allowed herself one last hard rub on her shoulder to soothe the ache and it seemed to work for a while as she let out a sigh.

"What even is that mark?" She asked herself as she finally locked her room, hand on scarf and made her way over to her favourite place.


	6. Chapter 6

Age Gap

Chapter 6

**It took a little tracking down but I finally found the story that influenced my own; Baby sitter by havel01a. I'd like to thank havel for having such a fun fic to read and hope that she keeps up the good work!**

* * *

As Erza pushed the doors to Fairy Hills open and walked out in to the crisp, morning, October air she took in a big lungful of it and let it all out again with a brighter smile than usual. She could already see Natsu at the bottom of the hill waving and beckoning for her to catch up. She noted with a smile that there was a spring in her step.

As she approached the main gates Natsu ran off again, but Erza heard a shriek almost as soon as he was out of sight.

"Oh, sorry about that." Erza heard Natsu say with a laugh.

"Oh no, it's no probl-" The young woman's voice stopped mid-sentence. "Natsu-kun? You're back to normal! That's great news!"

"Yeah, I don't know how it happened." Natsu said a little sheepishly. "But it's good to be back."

Erza heard a few fast steps until they were too far away to hear, Natsu must've run off again. She rounded the corner and saw the young woman he was talking too waving him off. Her short, bobbed, brown hair almost reached her navy, blue uniform and when she brought her arm back down, she placed the matching hat she was waving back on to her head. She spun on her heel and Erza winced as the sun bounced off the badge on her chest, straight in to Erza's eyes.

"Ah, Erza-san." She said as she spotted Erza. "I hope you're keeping Natsu-kun from getting in to a lot of trouble. You mages always seem to be breaking something important."

Erza shared a laugh with the young police officer whose name she knew as being Charlotte. She was only a few years older than Erza but nonetheless a perfectly qualified member of the non-magical police force. Natsu and Erza had coincidentally helped her out a couple of years back by apprehending a petty thief after he thought he could shoulder barge Erza out of his way as he made his getaway. Charlotte had arrived a couple of minutes later to the scene of the now lightly, charred thief, bleeding lightly from nicks all over his body, begging for his life at the knees of two uniquely, dressed mages. One with sword in hand, the other with fire. Charlotte had also seen them when Erza had arrived back in Magnolia with an unconscious child Natsu.

"I'm keeping him in line." Erza confirmed with a nod. "At least, attempting to. Are you on duty today, Charlotte-san?"

"Yeah, I have to get some hours in before I go on holiday with my family. But more importantly…" She looked over her shoulder and Erza followed the motion, there were a few people but none of them within earshot. "What was Natsu doing at Fairy Hills so early in the morning?"

"He stayed with me overnight." Erza said, slightly confused as to what she was getting at.

A knowing grin spread its way across Charlotte's face as she eyed the scarf around Erza's neck.

"Oh, I bet he did." She purred and Erza's face almost melted from the ferocity of her blush. "He seems to be in a really good mood this morning. Any reason why?"

"W-w-well, he got his b-b-body back." She stammered as she hid as much of her face as she could in the scaled scarf. "W-w-what's not to b-b-be happy about?"

Charlotte seemed to contemplate something before she asked one last question.

"Does it smell of him?" She grinned and Erza had to hold herself back from running away at that point.

"N-no it doesn't." Erza said quickly. "Well I best not be keeping you."

Erza wasted no time in walking away from the woman as she could hear her demonic cackling in the background. As the cold air cooled her face down she tucked her face back in to the scarf and as she sighed she realised that it did actually smell of him. A heated, smoky, cinnamony scent wafted in to her face and she felt it tingle her cheeks a little as her shoulders dropped a little despite the cold that she felt through her trousers.

As she settled back in to a nice, casual stride she heard a pair of footsteps jogging towards her. Raising her eyes from the path at her feet, she saw that it was Natsu.

Without a word, he ran right up to her, unwound the scarf a little and then redid it around his own neck. He then pulled Erza's hands out of the sleeves that she had hidden them in, cupped them within his own hands, brought them to his lips… and blew.

Instantly, her white hands were filled with an intense heat as they began to glow. She saw the flames lick at their palms and fingers but she felt no pain at all. It was like sitting close to an open fire with a blanket around your shoulders, letting the heat almost roast your eyebrows off, on a cold winter day with a fresh mug of hot chocolate by your side.

Erza had seen Natsu use his **Karyuu no Houkou** for the most trivial tasks before and had always questioned whether or not it was a valid way to use such a powerful Lost Magic, but feeling her hands almost melt inside his own, she had to say that this was by far the best use for his dragon breath she'd ever seen.

The flames stopped momentarily and in that brief moment the cold came rushing back to her fingertips and her right shoulder started aching quite badly. But as soon as Natsu placed his lips on her knuckles again and blew a little tornado of flames against her palms, it went away just as quickly.

Erza wondered how the normally incredibly, destructive flames were being used in such a gentle, domesticated way with not even a speck of soot forming on her toasty hands. Natsu's breath hitched for a second and he coughed a few times, the first one spewing cinders over their hands but like the flames, it didn't hurt, he then was then polite enough to cough in to his elbow.

"How do you make it so that your flames don't hurt?" Erza asked as she ran out of theories.

When Natsu had recovered, he looked at her with a perplexed expression. Natsu had always made sure to keep his flames away from people after Igneel told him how fire burns non-Fire Dragonslayers and some people were just scared of fire. Natsu figured that he had just forgotten that because his flames were his own, he could tell them to only burn enemies. Everyone who he considered an ally would only feel the warming effect, which is why he could freely blow fire on to Erza's sensitive fingers and not make her blood boil, literally.

"It burns who I tell it to." Natsu said simply. "If I don't want to burn you, then I won't."

"It's that simple?" Erza asked and he smiled.

"I have full control over my fire." Natsu assured her. "My fire will never hurt you. Not your skin, your hair or your clothes."

To prove his point Natsu took another big breath and Erza saw it coming quickly. She tried to put her hands away from Natsu's, but his grip was like iron. He let out a jet of fire that that would've completely torched her head and torso and Erza yelped cutely as she slammed her eyes shut and flinched away. But as she felt the same warmth in her hands spread over her body, she snuck a peek and found much to her amazement that the whole area was engulfed in flames.

Golds, reds and oranges flickered and flowed from all the things that Erza could see in the background. Shops and houses wobbled just like mirages in a desert from the lava-like heat that was all around her, but just not touching her. Natsu's lungs emptied, and so did the street from his flames. Erza looked back to Natsu in wonder and she saw the immediate space in front of his mouth waver as the excess heat came out with his next regular breath. Just like a dragon.

"I guess I'll have to rethink who has the prettiest magic in the guild." She said, still in a little bit of a daze.

"Why, who's was it?" He asked, not particularly surprised that it wasn't his own. Even he thought of his magic as 'cool' rather than 'pretty'. He waited for an answer that she didn't seem to be too willing to let slip to him. Her brow was furrowed in that way that told him that she wasn't sure if telling him would be for the best.

Natsu found it strange that he could tell Erza's frowns from one another. Her frown when the sun was in her eyes. Her frown when she thought about the past. Her frown when she thought about the consequences of something. Natsu had also taken notice (whether it was for better or worse was yet to be discovered) that Erza also frowned when she was aroused. It wasn't just the frown that had tipped him off to that one, it was the smell.

Normal humans wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a person's ordinary smell and when they were in _the mood,_ but thanks to his enhanced senses he could distinguish between them. One was a nice subtle air about them that was just a form of identification and the other was a beacon that said "come satisfy me, big boy". Ever since Natsu had come to the guild he had noticed this new smell within his first week, but he knew that he couldn't ask anyone about it; no one else had his sense of smell. As he grew older he discovered what this smell was and ended up being quite reserved around anyone that he smelt like that. This habit had dissipated over the years and he just ignores it nowadays.

Unsurprisingly, the one he smelt in that mood the most was Cana. He knew that the alcohol had to have _some_ kind of effect on her. She just turned the drunkenness in to horniness. But when Erza got in the mood, it usually happened when she was reading one of her adult novels at the bar and the frown on her face deepened the more she got in to it.

One time Natsu had decided to play a prank on her while she was reading. He had crept up silently behind her and jabbed his finger in to the crack of her butt. Lucy had freaked last time he did it to her and he couldn't wait to see what kind of reaction Erza had. Unfortunately, Erza's shriek had been quite different from Lucy's, like she almost enjoyed it. She had turned to him with a fierce glare and an even fiercer blush and had promptly knocked him out.

Back in the cold street, Erza's head dipped and her bangs covered her eyes as she said quietly, but loud enough for him to hear;

"Gray's."

Natsu stood motionless, his expression unchanging and just when Erza was about to look up he let out a sigh. Letting go of Erza's hands he started to walk away to the guild that was just around the corner. She felt the cold bite back at her skin once again as the scarf let go of his neck and stayed around her own. Understanding that Natsu was most likely hurt, she took off after him.

"Natsu, wait a second!" She called but he didn't stop and when he looked over his shoulder on the corner of the street to see her gaining ground, he panicked and sped up to a run, making a beeline for the guild's big double doors. "Running away, huh?"

Natsu hadn't expected her to run after him at all, she usually just lets him get to the enclosed space of the guild before she beats him up for doing something she didn't like. He was now less than 100 metres away from the temporary safety of the guild and was fast closing in.

_Yes, I'm home free!_

YANK

_Or not._

Even in Erza's iron grip, Natsu still tried to run away but it was no use. Looking back at Erza over his shoulder, he could see why she had caught him so fast. She had **Requipped** in to the same Flight Armour that she had used when he got the spell put on him. The yellow ears on her head twitched in annoyance at his antics.

"What are you doing?" She asked in a harsh tone. "You didn't let me explain."

Natsu was expecting her to say various things, a large percentage of them being curses and for her to fold and unfold her arms in a few seconds more than he would in his life but no… she wanted to _explain?_

"Explain?" Natsu repeated as she let go of his collar and he faced her once again.

"Yes." She said firmly and as he suspected, with her arms crossed but she looked at her feet like she did before. "I was going to explain that even though Gray's magic is pretty, that's on the change."

She shifted her weight from foot to foot and sneaked a couple of glances up at him with a red tint to her cheeks.

"So you've finally realised that I'm better than him?" Natsu asked bigheadedly. "Well, good. I don't know why you'd ever question that in the first place, I was always stronger than Gray no matter what he says, I don't see why I can't be _prettier_ than him too. I was raised by one of the most majestic creatures on the planet, dammit."

Erza looked more shocked than anything at that point. Was she expecting a different response from him? She sighed after a few moments and smiled warmly at him.

"Your magic is different." She said. "There's no doubt that it is beautiful too. You should never put yourself down. You're superior in your own rights. Gray's magic is like a necklace or an icicle, it's more of an instant appeal, something that would tickle anyone's curiosity for sparkly things."

"So… what, he's the king of magpies or something?"

There was a pause before Erza laughed heartily. It was rare for Erza to lose it while laughing, but this was some intense, side splitting, knee slapping chortling. She really did have a strange sense of humour. It was a good couple of minutes before she regained some kind of composure and even then she had to stay quiet for a few seconds with her face in her hands to get the giggles out of system. When she looked back at him, it was with one of the biggest grins he'd ever seen grace her features and he had to smile too.

"_As I was saying_." She emphasised. "Your magic is different. It's something a person needs to experience for themselves, no matter if they are an enemy or an ally. In fact that might be better that they were an enemy and then ally, that way they would get a feel for both sides of your magic."

She paused once again to look for inspiration in his face. Something that would make him feel that he's something, no, _someone_ that wasn't misunderstood, that was beautiful for his own reasons.

"To be able to feel the sheer power and earth shattering strength from your **Exploding Flame Blade** is only something that an enemy would be able to feel, I could only imagine that there isn't a lot that warrants the use of such a powerful technique. But then again, only people you consider your friends and teammates would be able to experience how gentle and soothing it can be as well.

Your magic really is beautiful."

Natsu had to admit that by the end of it, he was blushing furiously. Erza never ceased to amaze him, especially when she decided to use the vast vocabulary that she had picked up from all of the books she read. Natsu had to force back a scene of Erza using that same 'vast vocabulary' to talk dirty to him as her sultry body loomed above him, from arising in his mind but it was a little too late. His face was boiling now.

"You have nothing to be insecure about." Erza said comfortingly and as quick as lightning Erza had brought his face to her chest in a form of affection. Natsu hit with a thud as his temple struck her sternum but there was an extra spring that he had not anticipated as her restricted breasts bounced back to hit his cheek. He was going to start liking this.

But all too soon, an interruption was made.

"Ah, Natsu-san! Erza-san! Good morning."

Erza quickly let go of Natsu, **Requipped** back in to her normal clothes and turned to face the newcomer. Natsu regained his balance and stood up straight but there was still remnants of the sweaty smell of Erza's bare cleavage stuck to his nose, which he subtly but deeply drank up. Coming back to reality, Natsu saw that the intruder was Wendy. She and Erza were now sharing their morning greetings happily and soon enough they had turned back to him.

"Good morning, Natsu-san." Wendy chirped happily.

"Morning, Wendy." Natsu replied enthusiastically. "You ready for another full day?"

"Mm, I'm ready to take a mission today." She said. "I want to save up for-"

She stopped midsentence as she seemed to notice something was off and Natsu was a little worried that there was a bad guy nearby and readied himself for a fight. But Wendy's expression brightened and she clapped her hands merrily.

"Natsu-san, you got your body back to normal!" She cheered. "That's wonderful."

"My body?" Natsu asked cluelessly and then remembered the whole being turned in to an eight year old thing. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

Wendy joined in then with his laughter and Erza ushered them inside the guild after they settled down.

Natsu was ready for a new day himself but a couple of steps in to the guild hall Natsu realised that he might have to postpone that as he collapsed to his knees and screamed from a searing, burning pain in his chest. He hurriedly removed his vest but wasn't expecting what was there.

On his stomach, was a magic seal that he unfortunately recognised as the same one that had hit him before.

"Aw, dragon turds."

* * *

**So, how did you like it? I've decided to use this space to address a little problem that I could see arising in the future; when Natsu or whoever uses magic with an incantation, I'm going to use the English versions from now on. It'd get tedious having to translate the Japanese incantations down here and do you have any idea how long the incantation for his Phoenix Blade is?!**


	7. Chapter 7

Age Gap

Chapter 7

In the fun and exciting 17 years that Natsu had lived, there had only been a couple of things that could burn him.

First, there was the Fire Godslayer, Zancrow's magic; because that magic had a different base foundation from his own, they were abilities from two worlds that weren't supposed to meet, a world of gods and a world of dragons. It was only natural that these two worlds colliding happened with so much force that they could burn Natsu.

Second, was boiling water. Natsu could take a bath in lava and relax as normal, it didn't even singe his hair. But boiling water was evil to him. Lava and water were essentially the same thing but the colder of the two just _had_ to be the one to repel him. Just because it's a different base element than his magic. Totally lame.

But now, with this magical seal on his stomach he had found a third thing that also burnt him, and there was no getting away from this one. It had only been on his skin for a few seconds and already Natsu could understand that the brighter this white seal glowed, the closer it was to completing its given task and with Natsu on his knees, he could easily see what its task actually was.

_Turning me back in to a kid, eh?_

There was no way Natsu was going to go back to that ridiculous state. It was already over, it wouldn't come back, not if he had anything to say about it.

Natsu charged his magic in to his stomach just like he had done with Sting in the Grand Magic Games. He shouted out as he felt the familiar warmth of his own magic and pushed it out even harder, both the magic and his voice. The lines between his abdominal muscles glowed as the magic seeped through on to the strongly lit magical seal, but it was proving useless. Natsu was getting impatient now and with one great push and quick refill of his lungs he screamed with all his might and suddenly his entire body set on fire and this said fire kept growing just as Natsu held the scream.

"Natsu, stop!" He heard a voice he recognised as Lucy shout to him. "The floor's burning, at this rate the guild'll be ashes in no time!"

Natsu could see around his hands that the floorboards were definitely turning black as they burned from the unapproachable inferno that was now his body. But even through this, the seal on his stomach was shining like a beacon. It wasn't even bothered by the massive magical output it was receiving.

"_Shit!_" Natsu shouted for the last time as he cut his magic off instantly and a split second later so did the seal. There was no longer any trace that there was ever a problem as his now flat stomach was without a mark.

He took a few breaths to calm himself down as the rest of the guild looked on in silence. But it wasn't even five seconds later before he heard someone push their way to the front of the crowd and stop in the clearing.

"Juvia, Wendy!" He heard Mirajane call and he heard acknowledgements from the two. "I want you two to put out these little fires, we can't have them spreading."

"Of course!" Juvia replied.

"I'll take these on the left, Juvia-san." Wendy proposed and Juvia agreed to the plan.

"Now, Gray?" Mirajane called again.

"Over here." He called from Natsu's right as he stepped in to the clearing too.

"I want you to fetch one of the empty beer barrels from the storage room in the back and fill it with as much ice as you can without any water spilling once it melts." Mira seemed to have a firm grasp of the situation; she really was quick with these things. "With that much ice, the guild hall will cool down enough so that no more fires spring up. It's sweltering in here now."

Natsu looked up to see her wiping her brow and he wasn't surprised when he looked around the guild and saw that various things had caught fire from his defensive burst. Table tops were now ablaze and had spread to some people's tankards. Obviously because the majority of these tankards were filled with alcohol as soon as the fire came in to contact with them, they exploded and spread the flames further.

But as Natsu caught two, flowing, blue blurs in the corners of his line of sight, he knew that the guild would be fine. Wendy on the left was able to simple to waft the flames away with bare minimum effort from her Sky Dragonslayer magic and Juvia on his right went around holding her arms above the flames and let the water that made up her body rain down on the fire, slowly putting them out and then reabsorbing the steam back in to her arms.

Meanwhile, the crowd around Natsu parted once again as Gray came in with an empty beer barrel and placed it in the clearing. Natsu glanced in to the crowd and saw Cana stood with a hand over her mouth, like it was painful for her to see someone else with one of her precious kegs. Gray hadn't seen her though so he wasted no time preparing his signature stance.

"**Ice Make: Block!**" Gray called as he separated his hands and with a hiss from the mist that appeared, a huge ice block formed inside the barrel. He stood back and admired his work with a satisfied smirk.

Natsu moved his gaze to Mira who was now carefully watching the others go about their tasks but the little frown on her face indicated something was wrong.

"Ah!" Mira seemed to remember something. "Levy! You here?"

"Yeah, I'm here, Mira." The little bookworm mage called from the crowd and she too came in to the clearing.

"Could I get you to follow Wendy and Juvia around and fix the burnt furniture with your magic?"

"Sure thing, it'll be done in no time." Levy scampered off to the first table that Wendy had put out and pulled out one of her magical pens. She moved the pen around to form large bubbly letters as she called "**Solid Script: Repair!**"

There was a flash from the magical inscription and suddenly the table was fixed. There were no scorch marks at all when she was done, it looked exactly as it did the day before. Natsu wondered what the Master would say about it. He knew that the Master would be overjoyed that he didn't have to spend any money buying new tables and flooring now that they knew these things could be fixed by Levy. But he still couldn't relax knowing that he will most likely be punished by the Master for burning a lot of his property. He could've even burned some of the guild members and that was the last thing that Natsu wanted.

Just as tears were brought to Natsu's eyes he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Natsu, we know you didn't do it on purpose." Erza said soothingly as she looked down at him. "Come on, stand up."

Without really waiting for a reply from him she grabbed him by the elbow and hauled him up to his feet. But even then, once again, Natsu saw that he came up to about Erza's lower ribs and looking back down at his body he confirmed that he was once again a child. His tiny hands balled in to fists with the frustration of it all.

She placed her hand on his head and ruffled his hair a little as she prepared to take charge with Mirajane.

"Reedus, did you manage to get a look at the seal on Natsu before it got too bright?" She called in to the crowd and it was easy for even Natsu to see Reedus and his top hat above the majority of the rest of the guild at the back.

"Oui." He said with a mock salute. "I remember it perfectly, ma'am."

"Good." Erza said with a 'no-mess' amount of force. "We'll need an exact copy of the seal if we want to find out what the specific spell does and how to get rid of it. Removing this seal from Natsu is now my top priority and I want you all to cooperate in any way that is needed of you."

Erza had shifted from just addressing Reedus to talking to the entire guild towards the end. She always was a natural born leader and the rest of the guild knew it, so they followed her orders to the T and Natsu saw reassuring nods from several people in the crowd.

"Oh, and one more thing." Erza added. "The Master does _not_ hear about the fires. Now that we have Wendy, Juvia and Levy doing their best, it'll be like there was no problem in the first place. Therefore, we have no reason to worry the Master with something that is already being fixed."

Natsu was surprised to hear that come from the guild's very own law enforcer. Usually Erza would be the one to drag Natsu to his fate, no matter the punishment. But as he looked up at her, she met his eyes and smiled down at him. He looked away hastily as he felt some flustered heat shooting up the back of his neck. Erza still had yet to remove her hand from his head but it wasn't like she was bothering him.

She didn't move and from his lowered gaze he could see the bottom of Mira's dress, she wasn't going anywhere either. Those two stood like pillars while the rest of the guild flowed back to their normal routine of drinking at the freshly repaired tables and the ever refreshing banter even though the majority of the members saw each other only yesterday.

When the guild was back to normal Wendy, Juvia and Levy joined Natsu, Erza, Mira, Gray and Reedus and they moved over to Team Natsu's usual table. Lucy was already seated with Gajeel sat across from her where he seemed to be teasing her about something, judging from the alligator grin spread across his jaw and Lucy's puffed out cheeks.

Once they were all seated and settled, Erza quickly took control of the group once again.

"I'm sure I don't need to explain what I want to happen here." She declared straight off the bat. "Even if this spell isn't harming Natsu with broken bones and lacerations, it certainly isn't doing him any favours, we need this seal removing. Reedus, did you finish the copy of the seal?"

"Oui." The slim man ripped the top page from his notebook and placed it in the centre of the table for them all to see. On the paper was an intricately designed seal with curves and swirls of all different thicknesses and widths within a dark circle with markings inside it that looked like some kind of old runes to Natsu but he had no clue as to what any of it meant. "It was particularly well detailed as far as magic seals go. It's not often that the outer ring has these kind of old runic inscriptions within them."

_Well, what do you know? I got that right!_

"But you can't read them, Reedus?" Gray asked but Reedus shook his head.

"Oui." He said solemnly. "Unfortunately this is probably as far as I could help you guys, I can make more copies if you need them but translating runes isn't my forte."

"It's no problem Reedus." Erza said earnestly. "This is great start."

"Let me know if you need anything else." He bid his farewell and moved away from the table to go back to his easel.

After Reedus left there was nine people left to help with the investigation, Erza took this as a positive note. There were more than enough people left to get somewhere close to finding a solution.

"Alright, let's move on." Erza continued. "Levy, Lucy and Mira; would you three mind taking this piece of paper in to the library and doing some research as to what this seal is and any relating information on it. The mages that use this type of magic, the area of origin, when the most recent documented use of this magic was, anything and everything."

The three given the job shared a glance between them and once satisfied Lucy stood up first.

"We're on it, Erza." She said happily. "Leave it to us."

"I'm counting on you three." Erza said and they moved away from the table too, leaving six people remaining. Natsu, Erza, Gray, Juvia, Wendy and Gajeel. "Next is Gray and Gajeel, you two come with me."

Gray looked wary as he stood up and Gajeel groaned loudly but he too followed Erza back outside through the open guild doors to the top of the stairs at the guild's entrance. This way she could be out of earshot of the rest of the guild but could still keep her hawk eyes on Natsu. That left Natsu with Wendy and Juvia, Erza was sure that he would be more than secure with those two.

Wendy's naturally, caring nature was more likely to cause her to fuss over him like a mother hen rather than be awkward with his newfound physical state. The same could be said for Juvia, despite the obvious dissatisfaction with '_Gray-sama's_' absence, she didn't have a single bad bone in her body. Her mild manner and joyous attitude would be good company for Natsu and considering Natsu and Wendy are still children, Juvia would have to act as the voice of reason if Natsu somehow manages to persuade Wendy in to something.

Erza then turned her attention to the boys in front of her. Gray had lost his shirt on the way out but thankfully still had his trousers on and was stood with his hands in his pockets. Gajeel, however, looked even less comfortable with a perpetual frown over his pierced face and his arms folded over his chest.

"Listen you two." Erza started darkly. "While Natsu has this spell on him, I don't want to see you get in a _single_ fight with him. Not even a sparring match. Natsu may argue that his magic is unchanged, but that doesn't mean that he's invulnerable."

Gray's eyebrows had risen and he looked a little sceptical at Erza's argument but he also knew where she was coming from. It's not like he was actually _planning_ on purposely picking a fight with him while he was in that state. Gajeel's expression hadn't shifted at all though apart from his frown deepening ever so slightly. It worried Erza. If she was honest she was a lot more wary of Gajeel than she was of Gray when it came to fights. There was a big difference between hitting someone with ice and with iron. Gajeel was more dangerous than Gray and his hot blooded personality clashed with Natsu's more often than she'd like, but for now, all she could do was take his word that he wouldn't do anything.

If he gave it, that is.

"I know how strong you two are." She continued. "But as Natsu is, one particularly strong attack from either of you, that he can't defend, could well be fatal. Even if he could take the same amount of force as a teenager, you should know how different a child's body is."

Erza paused again and this time Gray laughed. Actually threw his head back and laughed. Gajeel looked just as puzzled as Erza.

"What's so funny?" He sneered at the laughing boy while he attempted to calm down.

"The way that you put it Erza," He chuckled a little. "Makes it sound like we're out to kill him or something. I don't know what Gajeel is thinking but Natsu's too young for me to spar with now. Wendy and Romeo are old enough, they can handle themselves, but Natsu doesn't know the limits of his body anymore, it'd be too dangerous."

"Oi, frostbite." Gajeel bit. "It's not like I'm gonna fight him either. Where's the fun if he's just a brat now?"

Gray gave an understanding nod, like he knew it wasn't satisfying enough to beat up children.

"So there it is, Erza." Gray concluded. "We won't fight Natsu until he's back to normal, however long it takes."

Erza looked between them, her harsh stare burning holes in their souls, searching for any signs of ulterior motives. But she found none.

"Alright, guys." She said finally. "Thank you."

"Don't go tearing up, Red." Gajeel scoffed. "He's getting the beating of his life once he's back to normal. Oh, and you smell a little weirder than yesterday."

Before Erza could make a comeback, Gajeel made his signature cackle and strutted back in to the guild and made his way to the bar.

Erza just shook her head and Gray gestured for them to re-join Natsu and the girls. When they caught sight of the trio, the girls were happily watching Natsu plunge in to his full breakfast. Erza heard Juvia comment on how cute it was that Natsu held his fork in a fist because the utensils were too clunky for his little hands.

Erza unconsciously ran her fingers through his already tousled hair and sat down on Natsu's left as the space on his right was occupied by Wendy.

"Softer than you'd expect isn't it?" Juvia commented with a bright smile. "What with it being so GRAY-SAMA!"

Erza wasn't expecting the outburst but she couldn't say that she was surprised. As soon as Juvia had seen Gray, her thoughts had been completed pulled to one side and her comment to Erza left forgotten. But Erza was curious, she hadn't paid too much attention. She ran her fingers through Natsu's hair once again and he looked up at her with a mouth full of bacon. He was expecting her to say something, but she just smiled and he reflected it before going back to his breakfast.

The comfortable atmosphere didn't last long however as a door at the back of the guild burst open and Lucy, Levy and Mira came rushing straight over to them.

"GUYS, THIS IS BIG!" Lucy shouted to them and that seemed to attract Gajeel back over to their table. "This is really, really big!"

"What did you find, Lucy-san?" Wendy asked.

As Lucy sat down, Mira came and set a book down, open at a certain page along with Reedus' drawing of the seal.

"We never expected to come across a solution so quickly." Levy said obviously a little shocked still. "But it was in one of the first books we looked in."

"So what's the hold up, bookworm?" Gajeel said with his chin in his palm, waiting for some kind of excitement but Levy waved him away.

"It's actually kind of sweet." Mira said and gave the group a knowing grin that they knew all too well. "Maybe, even quite simple."

"Come on Mira." Natsu said impatiently, voicing the feelings of the rest of the group. "Don't beat around the bush."

Mira sighed but took a deep breath, as did Natsu.

"We need to find Natsu's true love." She said and the group fell in to silence. "And get them to give him a heartfelt kiss."

Mira squealed a little as her inner fan girl for all things romance rose to the surface. But the rest of the group wasn't feeling it; there was some obvious disbelief between some people, thinking that Mira was just joking with them. But Erza thought different. Lucy and Levy weren't reprimanding her, if Mira was playing a joke, they would've set her straight at this vital time.

"What do you mean?" Erza broke the silence.

"AH!" Gajeel suddenly shouted and fell away from the table, almost in fear. "That's what it was!"

"What's up with you, tin can?" Natsu asked.

"It's no wonder you smelled weird." Gajeel said as his eyes flicked between Erza and Natsu. "He bit you didn't he? Show me the mark."

Erza was confused for a second but she felt something fall in to place with the mention of a mark.

Hesitantly she grabbed at the elastic of her collar and pulled it until her bare shoulder was in clear view of the whole group and there, for all to see, was a set of teeth marks. But unlike the red marks that Erza had seen yesterday, in the shower that very morning, she noticed something was changing.

Half of them were now _black_.

* * *

**So we're finally getting somewhere eh? The plot is starting to unravel but what will this mean in the future chapters?**


	8. Chapter 8

Age Gap

Chapter 8

**I would like to take this time to commemorate the date of the 31****st**** August 2013, as the date that this story reached 100 followers! I would also like to congratulate the user Xilentblade1125 for being that 100****th**** follower. It's been a while since I started this fic and I seriously thought that I would've abandoned it by now but just like those followers, old and new, I stuck with it and managed to see my very first story reach 100 followers.**

**I think I'll do another one of these little messages when Age Gap reaches 100 favourites too, just so I can remember that people aren't just reading this story, they're liking it too!**

**Let's hope you all stick around for me to reach the top!**

* * *

"Whoa, Erza." Natsu said as he craned his neck for a better view of Erza's shoulder. "You never told me that you had a tattoo. That's so cool!"

Erza was almost relieved that he didn't fully understand the current situation but this involved him too heavily, she'd have to be the one to do the honours.

"No, Natsu." She said as she tried to keep the shake out of her voice. "I don't have any tattoos. This Mark appeared yesterday, but I didn't notice it for a while. This is the Mark _you_ put on me yesterday when you cried, remember?"

She let Natsu have a little think, but his expression didn't acknowledge the memory.

"You got mad at me for almost forgetting our promise." She said and Natsu's face definitely showed that he remembered the promise. "And when you cried, you bit my shoulder. It didn't hurt at all, but that's where the Mark has come from."

"Oh yeah." He recollected. "I remember my magic doing something weird, but it felt kind of nice. So I just let it do its thing."

_There we go._

That was most likely what caused this Mark on her shoulder. Natsu had let his magic run amok and it had had this kind of effect. But it's not like she thought of this as a particularly bad thing. The Mark didn't hurt or itch, it was just simply there and if Erza was truthful, she had always wanted a kind of abstract tattoo. It was a kind of guilty pleasure, to have the kind of thing she shouldn't.

"So what does this mean, Gajeel?" She said as she turned to the Iron Dragonslayer with his head in hand. "You look like you want to say something."

"Oh, I want to say quite a few things." He said with a chuckle as he moved to his usual position by the pillar with his arms folded once again. "But first, I would like to take this time to truly acknowledge how _fucked_ you two are."

Erza went to protest but he shut her up with his hand and closed his eyes for a few seconds. His grin widened and a little chuckle kept bursting forth every now and again, but he quickly opened his eyes once again with a comment about 'getting his fill'. Erza didn't ask.

"What Natsu has put on you is called the Dragon's Mark." Gajeel snorted bigheadedly. Erza didn't like where this was going. "The Dragon's Mark is a seal of sorts, but also a display of ownership."

He paused there and noticed that the whole group's eyes were on him. He resisted the urge to make a big deal of the fact that he was basically _performing_ for them. Gajeel knew that the situation itself would be big enough for them. He definitely didn't envy them.

"What do you mean by 'ownership'?" Levy asked him with an underlying message of 'get a move on'.

"I was getting there, pipsqueak." He bit back with an obvious message of 'shut up and be quiet'. "The Dragon's Mark has been used for thousands of years, by dragons obviously, as a kind of mating ritual."

It was like a bomb had gone off. There was no noise whatsoever from the group as they either went bright red, looked at their knees and coughed in to their fists. The two this concerned a little more however, made some different faces.

Understandably, Erza's face was more shocked than anything else. With her eyebrows raised and her gaze that didn't seem to go anywhere really, she was definitely in shock. Natsu, on the other hand wore his confused expression from earlier, he probably didn't understand what this meant. Gajeel sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to teach him about anything he didn't need to. No. Fucking. Way.

"So yeah, because thousands of years ago there was so many dragons around, it was easy for a dragons to lose track of its partner even though every dragon was pretty much unique. So they came up with this Mark in the case that they were half a planet apart and some dragon was trying to do its dragon version of 'hitting on it'. Then over the years, the Dragon's Mark became a big thing in dragon culture, like the rings in a human marriage nowadays, or maybe it's more like a proposal?"

At those last words, all eyes turned on Natsu and Erza. But whereas Natsu obviously wasn't listening as he was trying to keep his oversized clothes on his body, Erza was more alert than ever and the prying eyes on the back of her head just made it worse.

Gajeel hadn't seen Erza move as fast as she did then for a while. Dashing away from the table, she used the turtle neck on her jumper to cover her face up to her cheeks, but it was pointless, they all knew she was blushing like crazy.

"Y-y-you've got to be joking." Erza's muffled voice spluttered. "There's no way that's right. Where would you even get that kind of information from?"

"Metalicana told me." He stated. "Don't forget that I'm two years older than Natsu, I can probably remember more things from my time with Metalicana than he can with Igneel. I'm not saying that I remember everything, but I remember that, for sure. When Metalicana had something important to say, he'd use one of his scales to pin me to a tree stump."

Erza still didn't believe what she was hearing. It was just too much. It was highly likely that Gajeel was just playing a massive joke on her but something about his reference to the past and his foster father seemed to make the explanation seem more legitimate. When Gajeel had mentioned Igneel as well, Natsu had stood up from the table and most likely automatically moved over to Erza. He had finally started to pay attention too, which Gajeel saw as well.

"Hey, Salamander." He said as he leaned down to Natsu's level with a devilish grin. "How's it feel knowing the Titania's gonna be your wife?"

Had Erza known he was going to ask a stupid question like that she would've beaten him senseless in a heartbeat, but the warning signals had slipped her mind and from Natsu's raised eyebrows, he had finally listened and understood something. But of all things, why did he have to listen _then?_ But sure enough he looked up at Erza with his brows furrowed. Erza looked back down at him, almost _scared_ at what he might say. He opened his mouth to speak but-

"But there's more to that Mark, when it comes down to Dragonslayers." Gajeel informed and there was an unhappy grumbling from Mirajane's direction, she had probably wanted to hear what Natsu had to say.

_Saved by the bell._

"How so?" Erza asked turning to him again.

"When a dragon placed its Mark on another dragon, the other dragon usually did the same." Gajeel explained. "But because Dragonslayers are a lot rarer, the other half of the deal can be sealed with a kiss, as long as they feel the same way about the Dragonslayer. The magic between the two is shared in that kiss and that causes the whole Mark to turn black."

He took a pause then and he looked as if something had just clicked in to place. Erza knew this because the exact same thing clicked in to place with her as well.

"Like yours has." Gajeel finished and for the third time that morning, silence fell over their group. "Something you'd like to say?"

"I'll have you know, _thank you very much_, that I haven't done anything like that with Natsu." Erza defended hastily with a blush creeping up her face again. "Besides, only half on my Mark is black."

"Half?" Gajeel obviously hadn't heard that this kind of thing could happen. "I don't know what that's about, but something must've happened to turn even half of it black."

"Well, I'm telling you I haven't done anything." Erza protested. "Tell him, Natsu."

Natsu thought for a few moments before he spoke up.

"This Mark on your shoulder turns black if you kiss me, right?" He asked and Erza confirmed it. "Then yeah, that's right, the Mark should be black."

At that proclamation there were various giggles and gasps from around the group and even a wolf whistle from Gray, who received Erza's death glare. He went quiet.

"But I know, for a fact, that I definitely haven't kissed you, Natsu." Erza's blush persisted and she was even sweating under her jumper. "Are you saying that my own memories are wrong?"

"No, no." Natsu hurriedly denied. "You won't have any memories of it at all because you weren't even awake."

"So I-I kissed you while I was asleep?" Erza asked and she turned back to Gajeel for answers.

"Ah, I think I understand." The Iron Dragonslayer said finally. "Under normal circumstances, if you kissed him, the whole Mark would turn black because you were displaying your feelings for him. But you were asleep and probably dreaming, and that's what you don't remember. You were dreaming about doing _something_ with the Salamander and your body moved to kiss him without you knowing. So because it wasn't done by you consciously, but it was willingly, half the Mark turned black."

Gajeel looked quite triumphant about solving a mystery, like it proved he was smarter than the rest of the group.

"But that's nothing to get happy about, Gajeel." Levy scolded, raining on Gajeel's parade. "In fact, this has just made the situation a lot worse."

The tension was building again.

"What, is there a time limit or something?" Natsu asked with a confident laugh. "Am I going to explode?"

"No, I don't think it's anything physically drastic." Levy explained. "It looks as though it might take its toll on a person regardless, though."

"Why would it?"

"Well, to summarise everything that's been said." Levy sighed. "The Mark on Erza's shoulder will turn completely black if she kisses you and means it. But, the only way to get the seal off your stomach is to have the love of your life kiss you. There is the possibility that this could include another person other than you and Erza. I don't know if there are any magical consequences if the person to remove the seal and the person to fill in the Mark are _different people._ It'd be something that needs to be researched."

Levy was now rubbing her temples, she was obviously feeling the pressure from the situation. Natsu was also beginning to feel it, as he began to feel bad about putting so many people through so much.

She had finished but everyone could already guess the problem that was left in the air. Even the pair that was most effected by all of this, could tell that this was getting even more complex with every new piece of information that was being uncovered.

_Erza. What did she think of this?_

There was a lot that Natsu hadn't taken in to consideration and there was probably a lot more that he hadn't paid attention to in this whole situation. He couldn't even remember the name of the spell that made him this way. But even though he definitely wanted to teach that snake-eyed bitch that turned him in to a child, a lesson; Natsu couldn't help but wonder what was actually wrong with staying like this for a while.

He wouldn't get beaten up by Gray at all. He didn't have to go on dangerous missions that he'd get injuries from that'd take weeks to recover from normally. He could still hang around with everyone in the guild and no one seemed sad that he was like this, but they would obviously prefer him back to normal. When Erza had left him alone with Wendy and Juvia he had noticed that it was easier to talk to Wendy like this, maybe because they were closer to the same age now, if only by a single year. The same went for Juvia, she had always seemed to drift away from the spotlight whenever he and Gray began to fight, she wasn't one to engage in conflicts, but now that that had stopped she was much more sociable and even openly friendly with him.

But most of all, his relationship with Erza had improved vastly. She too, no longer beat him up. They were much closer physically too, she had openly welcomed him in to her room for the night, where she would've just unceremoniously kicked him out, had he been his normal age. She had also welcomed him in to her arms when he had cried (even though he didn't like to admit it). She seemed to smile a little more when she saw him pretending to take the situation in his stride. He truly was happy with some of the changes brought about by this seal on him.

But then, why were these heavy, burning tears rolling down his cheeks?_  
_

"I don't like this." He whimpered as he grabbed a hold of the belt loop in Erza's trousers. "I don't want this!"

At the sight of the young, sniffling Dragonslayer, the others realised that in this situation, they might very well be helpless. Even if they wanted to do something, it wouldn't be possible with what pathetically little they knew, there were too many variables. Natsu's wails were hard, but they didn't ring upon deaf ears.

A slow, soothing hand sat on his head and buried itself in his hair. The comforter knelt down to his level and gently wiped away the tears on his cheeks but they were quickly replaced with fresh ones. Natsu could feel himself being brought in to a hug, a warmly welcomed one, and he balled his hand in to Erza's jumper as she let him cry in to her chest. How he knew it was Erza that was holding him, he had no idea. He couldn't smell her through his dripping nose and he definitely couldn't see her through his tear-stained eyes. He knew that she was telling him it was all going to be OK but he didn't want to listen. He didn't want to think that hard. Look at what thinking had brought about.

He just wanted to let go for once and know that he would be fine when he came out the other side.

As if she had heard his silent pleas, Erza arms brought him in tighter. She had absolutely no intention of letting Natsu down in his time of need; to fail here was _not_ an option. So secure was Erza's grip on Natsu that he could no longer move to wipe at his eyes. His tears fell on to Erza's jumper and no doubt got it quite damp, but it was no problem in Erza's eyes.

It was only morning, and already Natsu just wanted to go to bed and escape it all. Natsu was familiar with the sensation of tiredness when crying, but had never paid enough attention to it when he was younger. But now that he was older, he was discovering new things about the feeling, especially the feeling of the strength leaving his limbs. He thought that he might hurt Erza if he abruptly sat on the floor, but his body did him a favour and just gradually sank until his knees sat on top of Erza's thighs. She felt the contact and sighed contently on to his exposed neck as she readjusted his position and their legs intertwined like a pair of mirrored forks. She was glad that he would accept her.

It had been a while since Erza had seen Natsu cry. Although she had been the one closest to him the previous day, she had been caught off guard by the rare display of emotions. Apart from this situation, the last time she had ever seen Natsu cry was on the shores after the Tower of Heaven. Those tears had been 100% exhausted, couldn't-be-happier, tears of relief. The intensity of the emotions behind them had quickly brought Erza herself to tears soon after. Both Natsu and Erza had laughed at each other when they both choked on their saliva while crying and laughing at the same time.

But these weren't the tears of relief. These were the tears that came when someone was backed so far in to a corner, they didn't know what to do any more and were just _forced_ to cry. But Erza would be damned if she was going to let this minor problem be anything but that.

"It's OK, Natsu." Erza cooed as she smoothed back his hair with one hand and massaged at the back of his neck with the other. "There's nothing to worry about. We have the solution, so we'll get you your body back."

"Erza, can you really do that, just at the drop of a hat?" Gray asked. Erza jumped a little, she had forgotten that the others were even there. "Don't you need to prepare yourself mentally?"

"_Gray_." Erza mocked in a bad imitation of Gray's voice and she felt Natsu let out a shaky laugh in to her chest. "Why would you ask such a stupid question? I would give anything to continue living alongside Natsu normally."

Natsu could feel the honest truth behind those words. There was no question that Erza would drop everything for a friend in need. But even Natsu wondered whether it was the right thing to do for even him.

"Something as simple as a kiss shouldn't be too hard." She said.

The others weren't expecting, the great Fairy Queen, to make such a declaration, never mind in public. Erza had always carefully avoided situations or discussions involving romance, she was horribly sensitive to them. The more gossip prone girls of the guild knew this well. Blushing and stuttering were the norm for her. Did she really feel this strongly?

Natsu little hands pushed against Erza's chest and she realised that he had stopped crying and wanted to be free. She let him go and he sniffed when he pulled away to look at her. He gave her a big grin that made her smile in return until she felt a slight tightening on her chest. Glancing down, she noticed that there was a pair of small hands there.

All too quickly Erza realised what was happening. Natsu had used her breasts as leverage to push himself away. Apparently he had noticed too because he gave them a curiously cheeky, little squeeze with an even cheekier blush on his cheeks; to which Erza promptly punched him in to the floor and covered her chest as she stood up.

"At any rate." She said keeping a wary eye on Natsu's steaming frame, twitching in the small crater in the floor. "I said that I'll take care of this, so I will. I am not going to let some unfinished Mark run my life for me. I can have the Mark and stay in perfect control, after all it's a tracking magic. Isn't that so? So what if Natsu can find me whenever he wants? I'll be sure not to play Hide and Seek with him."

Erza was confident about this. She knew what she was doing. She could get the seal off Natsu's stomach and return him to normal, all she had to do… was kiss him.

She glanced down at him as he slowly got up and rubbed his head and then looked at his palms as his eyes widened. His hands then made a weird grabbing motion that after a few moments pause, she realised what it was. The demonic aura from Erza hit Natsu like a train and he quickly hid his hands behind his back and added a sheepish grin to the mix.

_Would it really be that simple?_

But Erza quickly realised that any further thought in to this matter would only cause more problems, they needed a little break from all these worries.

"Say, Natsu." Erza asked and Natsu felt a cold sweat run down his spine.

"Y-yeah?"

"You wanna go look around town for a while?"

* * *

**So this chapter was done a little quicker than the rest. Nice work brain, you gon' done good. But how does everyone feel about this turn of events?**

**I've had this shizz in the works for quite a few chapters now. Tell me what you thought about it, now that a solution has been dangled in front of your faces! Give it a follow and leave a review if you want to see more and give it a fave if you really like it.**


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